by Kimberly K

Created on: May 25, 2009

Wal-Mart is often criticized for its seemingly unethical business practices. It is also been said that those business practices are detrimental to the environment. While it's true that the company has taken measures to clean up its act in recent years, those small steps are really just a drop in the bucket when it comes to reversing the damage it has done and continues to create.

Consider for a minute the continued growth of the company. As Wal-Mart continues to expand the number of stores in the U.S., the energy used in those new Supercenters will offset any energy savings the company plans to gain by making its current locations more energy efficient. Many of those new stores are built to replace existing Wal-Mart facilities. When the new stores are built the company simply abandons the old location, leaving the empty shell of a building and many square feet of undeveloped retail space throughout the country.

Wal-Mart has also contributed to the increase in the amount of vehicle mileage used by Americans for shopping. The number of miles Americans now travel to go to the store has increased by two miles since 1990. There are studies that show the size of a store is directly related to the amount of traffic it generates. Big-box stores pull customers from a larger geographic area which results in increased traffic. Unlike most big-box stores Wal-Mart has locations that are open twenty-four hours so the possibility of increased traffic is greater at those stores. The 24/7 Supercenters also use a great deal more energy than other retailers that are only open twelve hours per day.

Where Wal-Mart is concerned however, the matter goes beyond the environmental aspect of the company's practices. While many people would praise the company's decision to refuse to carry CDs with parental advisory warnings, that practice could also be damaging. Bands like Green Day are forced to make a choice to either censor their music for Wal-Mart, or take a risk on less exposure by refusing to edit their album. Green Day made the choice recently not to edit their album just for Wal-Mart.

The band has also blasted Wal-Mart for their censorship practices. Green Day has a good point. While successful musicians can afford to alienate Wal-Mart, smaller bands may be forced to compromise their work or lose a large portion of sales. Wal-Mart controls a good share of the retail market in the U.S. is it right for them to control and censor the products sold as well?

While it

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