83% Of Largest Retailers Involved In Green Practices

October 1, 2007

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Two-thirds of chief financial officers at leading U.S. retailers say their company is actively involved with “green” or environmentally friendly practices, and forty-four percent of those indicate they have increased their investments in these practices during the past two years, according to a new study by BDO Seidman, LLP. Among the top 100 largest retailers, eighty-three percent are involved in green practices and a majority of those (62 percent) have increased their green investments during the past two years.

Among those retailers involved with green practices, 34 percent are pursuing internal activities (environmentally modifying operations and structures) exclusively; while nine percent are focused solely on external practices (selling green products). Fifty-seven percent of these retailers are pursuing a combination of both external and internal green practices.

When asked to identify the greatest motivator for their company to pursue environmentally friendly practices, two-thirds of the CFOs cited the company’s corporate image (54 percent cited “image among consumers” and 13 percent cited “image among shareholders”). Tax breaks or tax incentives was the greatest “green” motivator among 15 percent of the CFOs, followed by 10 percent citing city/state or zoning regulations.

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Reader Comments

I am selling PPA power puchase agreements to finance, own, operates solar panels on large commercial buildings. This is a fantastic way to get companies green power and reducing thier energy cost. According to your articles the companies want to market they are doing something good for the environment.

The biggest challenge is simply tracking down the right person to talk to. Many Large companies have Environmental websites but no information at all who to contact. A website or article on who to contact would be invaluable.

Thank you,

Scott Freeman

scott freeman | October 19th, 2007