Wal-Mart welcomes makers of products easy on environment
Posted on Wednesday, October 8, 2008
BENTONVILLE — Inside the Lights of America company’s booth on the top floor of the Bentonville Plaza office building Tuesday, dozens of LED — lightemitting diode — lights for various applications glowed from a mere 350 watts of power.
The Walnut, Calif.-based company displayed vanity globes, accent lighting, track lights and other applications, with 1. 5-watt bulbs providing light equivalent to a 40-watt incandescent bulb.
Despite the obvious energy savings, Brian Halliwell, vice president of sales and marketing for Lights of America, doesn’t see LED bulbs replacing general-purpose light bulbs anytime soon. For now, he said, the miserly lights are likely to remain in the realm of accent lighting in the home.
Lights of America was among 80 vendor companies that set up booths as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. hosted its first “closed-loop networking showcase” near the company’s headquarters. The event brought together buyers for Wal-Mart stores and Sam’s Club warehouse outlets with companies featuring environmentally friendly products for sale at retail or for use in store construction.
Creating products from previously used materials reduces raw material costs and leads to “better stuff at a Wal-Mart store,” said Rand Waddoups, senior director of corporate strategy and sustainability at Wal-Mart.
“You’ve created a market for what was going to become trash,” he said.
Several vendor companies featured products made from recycled tires or plastic materials.
Ricky Paradise, vice president of Jayhawk Plastics Inc. in Olathe, Kan., wasn’t exactly trying to get his company’s benches or picnic tables inside Wal-Mart stores. He believes they’re a better fit outside the stores as a place for shoppers to rest a bit, and for other commercial uses.
The 110-pound benches are made from about 2, 000 recycled plastic milk jugs, the picnic table from 4, 500 jugs.
“This is trash that would be in a landfill,” he said. The company has been making the benches and tables for 10 years.
Tire recyclers showed up for the event in force.
American Rubber Technologies Inc. of Jacksonville, Fla., featured rubber mulch in shades of woodlike brown, grasslike green and bright blue. Florida landscapers like the blue stuff around the state’s abundant swimming pools, explained Greg Burnell, president and chief executive officer. Burnell said the company uses only nontoxic dyes, developed with The Sherwin-Williams Co. Besides controlling weeds, he said, “it’s proven that it reduces injuries and falls better than any other product.” Recycled tires also play a part — though not the traction part — of Eastman Group Inc. ’s Flat Tire Footwear line of sandals and boots on display. Only the cushioning part is recycled, said Tucker Holmes, vice president for sourcing. New tread is used for traction. Wal-Mart’s stock closed Tuesday at $ 54. 84 a share, down $ 3. 06 or 5. 28 percent, in trading on the New York Stock Exchange as stocks plummeted, with all the major indexes down more than 5 percent.
To contact this reporter: spainter@arkansasonline. com
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