Wal-Mart Goes Green?

I actually had to make myself stop laughing the first time I saw the commercials about Wal-Mart "going green." I can't make any sense of it. Of course it has to do with marketing. However being environmentally-friendly was important to me prior to it being a fad.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled that more and more people are choosing to take their own reusable bags to the stores, but Wal-Mart? I mean, are we serious? I'd like to think back to the list I made in my head on this year's Earth Day about earth-friendly things that I support or incorporate in my life. As a big coffee drinker, I make it a point to get my regular cups of coffee from places that are fair trade. I have a reusable bag for groceries. I try to make use of various objects that are basically useless by themselves, but quite fun for making jewelry; generally colorful rave-friendly jewelry I can give as little gifts to friends.

Now I'm side-tracking as my next thought was the liberation of a certain substance, but back to Wal-Mart. In order for a product to be fair trade, it requires that the laborers working to produce the product are treated fairly. No human rights laws are violated, people are paid enough to survive etc. And no China, allowing people to get messed up on Crystal Methamphetamines and become slaves of your economic system does not count. I would get over it if it were an organic substance, but its not.

Then I must of course express my feminist disdain for the place. Even if the rest of it was not a complete disgrace to progressive-minded Americans, they still only put cameras in their parking lots to monitor union activity. What about having one of the highest rates of people being kidnapped and raped in their parking lots? Attention redneck women! Do not park your RV in their parking lot overnight! It is not safe like they claim it to be!

So I think my conclusion is that if "going green" is going to be the trend, then there is no room to continue human rights abuses.