You can stop laughing anytime - I’m serious. Thanks to a recent installment of EcoTalk radio, I’ve learned some new things about this big box store. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not going to rush out and start shopping at Home Depot, but they do deserve some credit for the efforts that they are putting forth to bring planet-friendly products to the average consumer, eco-concerned or not (though everyone should be). Most impressive for me was the fact that when any activist group or eco-organization mounted an attack on their company, HD would simply call and invite them to come and talk about their concerns. Wow, duh; what a concept! From that part of the interview alone, other businesses could learn a lot. I’d love to hear about KFC and PETA having a chat, or Greenpeace and Exxon. What are these major eco-evils worried about? That the green activists are going to throw hemp and granola at them? Come on - grow some balls and sit down with your “enemies”; they are intelligent and all they really want to do is help facilitate change. Don’t hide from you problems, pretending they aren’t there; that only makes your company look even worse to investors and consumers.
The upcoming Duke University/Home Deport project called Smart Home is a pretty nifty concept, though I can’t help but be reminded of the movie Bio-Dome (am I the only person that saw that?). Thankfully, there will be no TV cameras (a la reality TV), but the students that will be living in the building will have their energy uses monitored to test new technology and find new ways to make our energy output more efficient. Yeah, this is a big promo opportunity, but live testing is also one of the most dependable when it comes to new eco-technologies; if HD can bring big attention to more capable and conscious energy usage, I’m all for it.
Selling solar panels is another big step in the right direction for Home Depot. Though their customers had expressed curiosity about them, the sales demand wasn’t very high. Despite this, HP (partnering with BP) now sells home solar panels in CA, NY and NJ. “We looked at this and said, ‘no one is in a better position than Home Depot, with 2,000 plus stores, to bring this type of product to the consumer’,” said Ron Jarvis, Home Depot’s Vice President of Environmental Innovation (a position created just one month ago). Two weeks from now, there will be an internal meeting to help determine which of their stores would benefit most from having solar panels installed on the roofs; now that is being pro-active, or as Betsy Rosenberg said, “nothing like walking the talk.”
Rosenberg also brings up the fact that some of the most basic eco-home products, such as low-VOC paint, are still not available in most stores. From the sound of it, Home Depot is on top of that issue as well, but you’ll have to listen to the podcast yourself.
Next time, I’ll be talking about how to save the world with pollution (again, not joking).
08/01/2007 at 2:08 pm Permalink
Except that PETA and KFC are pretty much mutually exclusive and cannot coexist. Fundamentally.
However, your point rings true. The biggest problem that most people have with WAL-MART is not that WAL-MART exists - but rather that WAL-MART will not even begin to address concerns, but instead resorts to lying and propaganda.
People often have concerns about businesses for legitimate reasons. Sometimes they voice those concerns in irresponsible ways, but businesses should rest assured that if there is one vocal person with a concern that there will be more who share the concern silently.
Sometimes a “fix” to the problem is small and actually helps the business bottom line, and almost all the time it will at least garner good press.
In the interest of full disclosure:
Out of all of the “extreme” organizations out there, I think I have the biggest problem with PETA….
08/01/2007 at 9:23 pm Permalink
Very eloquently put VR. We aren’t all going to get along; that is just crazy. As humans, we are all different and will, no doubt, share differing opinions. Even though this is true, that doesn’t mean companies shouldn’t be open to understanding these conflicting opinions. Most just ignore them all together, which does not help business for anyone.