1. How does your department spread awareness of environmental sustainability issues within your company and to your customers? My department, Environmental Compliance, works to enhance the company’s existing sustainability efforts by focusing on compliance as the foundation for environmental sustainability. In this regard, we spread awareness through our training programs. To spread awareness of sustainability within the company, the company announced in April 2007 a program called “Personal Sustainability Projects” (PSP). The voluntary PSP program was created by and for associates to help them incorporate the principles of sustainability into their daily lives.PSPs are associate-driven efforts through which Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club associates develop individual goals to improve their health and wellness and the health of the environment. In 2008, Wal-Mart’s 1.3 million U.S. associates will continue to learn about PSPs and have the opportunity to adopt their own personal sustainability goals. Associates are encouraged to educate their colleagues, customers, families and communities on personal sustainability and the impact it can have on their daily lives. Wal-Mart also plans to eventually expand the program into its international stores.
2. What do you think is the biggest opportunity today for retailers who want to become better stewards of the environment? The biggest opportunity for retailers who want to become better stewards of the environment is to effectively engage suppliers in creative ways to develop and merchandise more sustainable products.
3. How do you think corporate attitudes and action towards environmental sustainability will change in the next five years? In the next five years, we will see a more concerted and collaborative effort among retailers to understand how we can work with our suppliers and customers to be good stewards of the environment. I think that the RILA Sustainability Initiative is an amazing example of the type of collaboration that we will see over the next several years.
The next 10 years? In the next 10 years retail sustainability will be a key driver in making decisions in what, how and why we merchandise and operate retail establishments. Customers will expect that our buildings are fully supplied by renewable energy sources. We will see a more informed consumer who will make buying decisions based on sustainability indicators. While we will see less packaging, we will also see more emphasis on the “smart” packaging of chemically intensive products.
4. What is the biggest challenge your department faces right now? The biggest challenge that any retail compliance department faces is identifying, understanding and properly executing compliance obligations in all of the states where you do business. Retail associates are not environmental compliance experts; so an additional challenge is translating and teaching very complex environmental requirements in simple ways that address the unique attributes of the retail environment.
5. If your department's budget for next year was doubled, how would you spend it? For the retail sector, I think that the best investments we can make are in recruiting, developing and retaining our environmental professional associates. Strong compliance programs make investments in people, systems and training.
6. What led you to pursue a career in retail environmental compliance? I am a lawyer by training and worked for the U.S. EPA for almost 20 years in the area of environmental enforcement and compliance. My last position was that of deputy assistant administrator for the Office of Enforcement and Compliance where I was the senior career official responsible for setting and executing national enforcement and compliance policies. To leave the EPA to come to Wal-Mart was not a difficult decision. Wal-Mart’s basic values of respecting the individual, customer service and striving for excellence are very similar to the values that public servants have. As an environmental compliance professional, this is a job of a lifetime because I can contribute in a meaningful way to make the world’s greatest retailer even better.
7. Who do you feel is today's most influential public figure regarding environmental issues? I think that former Vice President Al Gore is the most influential public figure regarding environmental issues. He advocated for environmental issues for more than 30 years — well before many of us fully understood and accepted the threats of global warming. He brought these issues to the forefront of all citizens through his best-selling book and award-winning documentary, An Inconvenient Truth.
8. What is your favorite non-work pastime?
9. What book are you reading now? Since I am so busy with my children, I’m not reading anything right now. When I do have the time, I enjoy biblical fiction and historical fiction. Two of my favorite books are The Red Tent by Anita Diamant and Four Spirits by Sena Jeter Naslund.
10. What is one thing your co-workers don't know about you? They probably don’t know that my favorite play list on my iPod is “Old School Rock.”
11. If you could invite any four people (dead or alive) to a dinner party, who would you invite and why? I would invite Maya Angelou, my deceased grandmother Eula Bannister, my Mom Evelyn Perrin, and Paula Deen. We would have the ultimate bake-off and just a good old time sharing recipes and reflecting on where we are as women, how far we have come, and how we can continue to build strong communities for generations to come.