Wal-Mart Left Holding Green Bag

Wal-Mart Stores this week introduced a recycled, reusable, washable shopping sack to help reduce waste generated from plastic shopping bags. The sacks will appear in stores on the West Coast this week, and will roll through the country eastward throughout the month.

Made from 85 percent recycled materials, the bags carry as much as two to three plastic sacks. Consumers can purchase the bags at the checkout aisle for $1 each. When they have worn thin, they can be returned for recycling.The bags are part of Wal-Mart's sustainability program, which was created to help improve its reputation as a corporate giant often criticized by labor unions and special interest groups, says Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott. Of course, Scott also adds that the efforts have not been done "as a marketing ploy."

So Scott is telling us the program was created to improve Wal-Mart’s reputation but is not a marketing ploy. Hmm? Either way, Wal-Mart deserves some credit here.