Is Walmart ethical (employees, clothing, sustainability, wages, sweatshops, etc.)
Due to its huge social impact, major retail chains around the world are facing increasing pressure from consumers to adopt ethical and environmentally friendly practices.
Since Walmart is one of the largest retail chains in the United States, you might be wondering — is Walmart ethical? Here’s everything I’ve found about Walmart’s corporate practices!
Is Walmart ethical?
There are conflicting reports on whether Walmart is an ethical brand. Walmart regularly donates to local organizations and charities, but pays its employees poorly and offers no accessible health insurance plans. However, Walmart says its goal is to become more sustainable in the future.
If you want to learn more about whether Walmart is environmentally conscious, utilizes sweatshop labor, and more, keep reading!
Is Walmart an ethical place to shop?
Walmart is ethical to an extent, so whether or not you shop there is ultimately up to you.
On the positive side, Walmart donates to local charities like higher education policy and youth building.
In fact, Forbes magazine once listed Wal-Mart as one of the largest philanthropic companies in the United States.
Still, Walmart engages in unethical practices that increase air and water pollution while directly impacting the loss of natural habitats and ecosystems.
These unethical practices include building Walmart stores on land that was previously the habitat of endangered and important species.
Among other things, the company has also given up its store locations, leaving buildings vacant.
Does Walmart use sweatshops?
It has previously been reported that Walmart uses sweatshops and child labor in the production of its products.
In 2000, a Chinese factory that supplied Walmart was exposed for beating, abusing, paying extremely low wages and forcing employees to work about 90 hours a week.
Following the news, Walmart canceled its contract agreement with the factory.
Walmart also canceled contracts with suppliers located in Myanmar, Bangladesh and Nicaragua. Each of these locations is rumored to be a sweatshop-based factory.
What is Wal-Mart’s ethical issue?
The following ethical issues have earned Walmart some bad press for its involvement in environmentally friendly practices:
- Pay employees low wages and actively work to keep wages low
- Not providing its employees with an accessible or affordable health insurance plan
- Use of store land that is often located on virgin land (which is home to several microcosms and ecosystems)
- Walmart’s growing demand for meat products is causing many farmers to be replaced by big corporations, which is antithetical to “sustainable farming”
What is Walmart’s Code of Ethics?
Walmart does not have a code of ethics that is publicly available.
However, it does have a code of conduct that it inculcates into all aspects of its business, which includes the following principles:
- respect for the individual
- Pursue excellence
- for customer
- act with integrity
How much money does Walmart donate to charity?
Walmart has reportedly donated more than $500 million to local charities and nonprofits in the U.S. in the past.
This number was calculated using the following dataset provided by Walmart FYE:
- From 2008 to 2009, Walmart’s contributions to local organizations increased from $296 million to $378 million
- In 2009, Walmart donated $45.5 million to international marketplaces and charities, up from $41 million reported in 2007
- Worldwide, customers of Walmart and its associates donated more than $106 million through in-store giving and philanthropic programs
- In 2010, Walmart predicted that its volunteering program would exceed 1.5 million hours, involving both employees and customers
Are Walmart Clothing Ethical?
Walmart reportedly sources clothing from factories that don’t treat their workers ethically.
For example, The Business Insider found that Walmart is still sourcing clothing from a Bangladeshi factory called Mars Apparels.
In 2011, Walmart announced it was canceling its contract with Mars Apparels after it was revealed that the clothing company was forcing employees to work long hours and underpay.
Still, the Bangladesh factory bosses confirmed they are still doing business with Walmart two years after the company announced it was terminating the contract.
The news was confirmed by US shipping records. So it’s getting harder and harder to say that Walmart clothing is ethical.
What are Walmart’s sustainability efforts and goals?
Walmart has now released the following set of goals detailing its efforts to achieve a more sustainable business future:
- Responsibly Sourcing Commodities
- Eliminate unnecessary emissions
- reduce waste
- Restoring Nature and Ecosystems
- sell sustainable products
- Corporate decarbonization
What is Walmart doing to improve its sustainability?
Walmart took the following actions to improve its sustainability levels:
- Install solar and wind energy
- Divert 81% of its waste to landfill by 2020
- become a regeneration company
If you want to learn more about Walmart, you might also be interested in reading about whether Walmart is unionized, who is Walmart’s target market, and why people hate Walmart.
in conclusion
When discussing its ethical engagement, Walmart conjures up mixed reviews.
What is clear, however, is that Walmart is fully committed to being a sustainable and ethical company in the future.
By 2025, Walmart aims to use only 100% recyclable and compostable branded packaging for its products.
Additionally, Walmart wants to achieve zero emissions by 2040 and 100 percent renewable energy by 2035.
