Why waste a tape when you can plant a tree…
San Diego, CA- Walgreens yesterday celebrated the opening of the nation’s first green pharmacy not with a traditional ribbon-cutting ceremony, but with the planting of a native tree.
“We felt that planting a tree was much more appropriate than cutting a ribbon and then throwing it away,” said Jamie J. Meyers, the AP LEED Project architect who was there for the celebrations.
Walgreens, the nation’s largest drugstore chain, is once again changing the landscape for the American consumer, this time to go greener. The store in question was designed from the ground up around the dual mission of efficiency and sustainability. Not only is it the first pharmacy in the US to meet the USGBC’s strict LEED design standards, but the 24-hour store also sells a host of eco-friendly products.
By exceeding LEED requirements and integrating green product lines into their inventory, they have taken steps that cannot simply be attributed to ordinary corporate “greenwashing.”
A serious commitment…
With this project and future plans for many more like it, Walgreens has made a serious commitment to sustainability. These are just some of the things that have been built in this store in the architectural aspect;
-Take landscaping for example- They used all native plants that will not require irrigation once they have adapted to transplanting. Here in San Diego that’s a big deal as we’re in the middle of a level two drought emergency…
-They went to great lengths to reduce lighting energy waste by using 75% of natural sunlight during the day. This was achieved with the installation of solar tubes and skylights that shine from the roof. This, combined with LEDs in their signs and refrigerators, reduces lighting-related energy use by 50%.
-They are mitigating stormwater pollution from surrounding buildings by collecting and filtering the water as it flows onto their lot.
-Water use is estimated to be 50% below LEED standard levels.
-75% of the materials were architectural rescues from the previous structure that existed on the lot.
-A white roof was included to reduce energy use related to cooling, as well as to mitigate the urban heat island effect.
-There are also plenty of other green touches, like hybrid car parking spaces, a bike rack, and a site chosen in part for its proximity to public transportation.
While other companies like Wal-Mart and Target have made token nods to the green movement, Walgreens really seems to get it. While there is still room for further improvement, the significant steps they have taken to “go green” far exceed the typical dog and pony show that passes for environmentalism at many companies these days.
At some point the question was seriously raised: “How can we become more efficient and sustainable?” And someone took the time to find some advertisers. Yet here is the question that every modern business will face as energy prices skyrocket and the public becomes more aware of its own effect on the planet. Whether it’s the product they produce, the service they provide, or the goods they sell, businesses large and small cannot escape the changes taking place in our environment. Those who don’t respond to these changes will end up as Walgreens competitors like Eckerd; just struggling to keep up with the pack.
A story of steady progress
“Walgreens is making great progress in our environmental initiatives in stores across the chain. We are cutting our electricity and water usage, recycling tons of cardboard and shrink wrap each year, and upgrading equipment for maximum efficiency,” said Walgreens. Walgreens vice president of marketing, Matt Sesto.
Walgreens has never been a trendy/flashy company. Quite the contrary, they are a family-owned American company with a long history of steady progress. In many cases, they have been among the first to implement innovative strategies such as the switch to barcode scanning technology and expansion into film development in the 1970s. They were also at the forefront of adapting a more popular format. convenient and customer friendly at a time when pharmacies were quite limited in scope. However, through all of these changes, they have always remained true to their identity as “the corner pharmacy of the Americas.”
So when a company like Walgreens outlines a broad green strategy, it really means something in terms of its future intentions. As Jim Collins (Author of ‘Built to Last’ and ‘Good to Great’) mentions in an article titled Best Beats First;
“They (Walgreens) may be slow — following a crawl, walk, run path — but when they run, they will run over companies that believe being first is all that matters.”
So when Walgreens tells me they plan to build many more new green locations, as well as make additional eco-friendly modifications to their existing 6,857 locations, I believe them. This store alone is saving enough energy to power more than 19 homes a year. Imagine what the combined effect will be!
Bringing green products “to every drugstore in every corner of the United States”
Walgreens’ unique position as a national leader in its industry gives it the opportunity to offer and support green products in its extensive network of 24-hour stores. It also puts them in a position to persuade their competitors to do the same. That says nothing about the opportunities available to them in terms of offering holistic, green, organic health products. Again, in the interest of fairness, this is an area where action has been taken… but there is still room for improvement. While certain eco-friendly products have been featured and given prominent display positioning, much of their inventory is the same old landfill clog… “stuff” that plagues America today.
This brings to mind the reason why I decided to write this article. Walgreens, like many other long-standing companies, finds itself in an awkward position today. As they struggle to wrap their strategy around the idea of sustainability, they are still plagued by a long legacy of conventional, polluting and unsustainable business practices. Unfortunately, that is something that no company can change overnight. This problem can only be tackled through consistent long-term efforts. No radical initiative or “change program” will make a significant difference to behaviors that have developed over many generations.
However, the good news is that, with pressure from retail giants like Walgreens, major manufacturers (like current Walgreens suppliers) will naturally “follow suit” and start offering more green product alternatives. Here are some of the product lines currently available at their Mira Mesa (SD) location;
Healthy Times – Organic Baby Food – Definitely a green product worth your money, especially if you’re sick of paying for water and starch! Organic baby food should be in every grocery/drug store in the United States. I would recommend this product to any parent trying to get their baby off to a healthy green start. They have many options, all organic, all formulated to nourish children’s skin, hair, growth, and general well-being. This baby food contains no refined sugars, preservatives or artificial additives.
Biofusion – This is Walgreens own brand of hair care products that incorporates natural ingredients into the formulas. Nothing is yet known about the sustainability or social responsibility of the manufacturing process, however, the formulas are less reliant on chemicals with too many syllables to pronounce.
Burt’s Bees – This is a prime example of a family-owned cottage industry manufacturer that grew to become a national success…and is now using that success to drive environmental progress. Their personal care products are not only naturally based (beeswax), but their entire business philosophy is centered around supporting “the greater good” from their charitable contributions to fostering personal growth opportunities for their employees.
Clorox Greenworks – This is Clorox’s brand of green cleaning products that use, in its words, “environmentally preferable chemistry” to achieve cleaning results similar to Clorox’s flagship toxic/harmful products. Clorox also contributes to the Sierra Club on behalf of this product line. (Get coupons here)
Natures Source: SC Johnson’s green plant-based cleaning products are eco-friendly and versatile in their selection. Visit their website to learn more about these products and what SC Johnson is doing to help the environment.
WaterU: is another product made by Walgreens. A BPA-free reusable water pitcher that comes in a variety of different sizes. It is reusable and recyclable and does not contain the harmful traces of BPA found in typical bottled water containers.
So while green products have been made available at this location, there is a clear emphasis on the architectural end of sustainability. I can imagine it’s hard to walk away from long-standing distributor relationships; however, there’s really no good reason why Walgreens can’t offer more environmentally friendly product alternatives for some of its best-selling items.
A green pharmacy is a healthy pharmacy
An often overlooked (but very important) part of going green is the healthy choices we can make each day.
day like eating right, exercising, and choosing over-the-counter health products. Consider that the medical industry is a major polluter of landfills and toxic waste. Just look around the next time you’re in a hospital and it’s not hard to see why. If Walgreens can take its commitment to the next level by promoting eco-friendly, natural health products in its stores, then that would be a pretty amazing achievement by any environmental standard.
Going green has as much to do with the lifestyle you live as it does with the house you live in. By extension, it’s as much about the products you sell as it is about the building in which you sell them. Sometimes that is forgotten in the world of business and industry. I hope that Walgreens can use the same wise judgment in this area that it is currently practicing in the design and energy policy of its new buildings. To see photos of the grand opening, check out the my Go Walgreens article in its entirety.