Mountain Equipment Co-Op Among Top 'Green' Retailers Worldwide

Newswise - Using solar panels and geothermal heating as energy sources, creating "eco ambassadors" to lead environmentally friendly initiatives at work are some of the "green" activities that 15 of the world's top eco-friendly retailers engage in regularly, according to a new report published by Ryerson University's Centre for the Study of Commercial Activity (CSCA).

Mountain Equipment Co-op, IKEA Canada, Walmart and Home Depot are among the list of the leading green businesses in Canada. The other retailers among the 15 green leaders include: H-E-B, in the U.S.; LUSH, Marks & Spencer, Alliance Boots, Monsoon and Tesco in the U.K.; Musgrave Group in Ireland; Monoprix, and Carrefour in France; Aeon in Japan; and Woolworth's Company, Australia.

"We developed the greening retail initiative to assist the retail industry worldwide in adopting more sustainable practices," says Wendy Evans, one of the main authors of report and an adjunct professor in Ryerson's Ted Rogers School of Retail Management. "The report's goal was to demonstrate that by undertaking just a few of these initiatives, being green makes good business sense and lessens our carbon footprint." The other main author is Marion Denney, Evans and Company Consultants Inc.