Minneapolis-based retailer Target has been giving away five percent of its profits to community charities and programs since 1946, long before it became the "in" thing to do. The company hasn't had really formal goals related to the environmental or sustainability, although it has been acting in that manner for probably 30 years. That has changed with the release of its new five-year plan for environmental sustainability.
The goals are normalized, not absolute, which Target says is a move it made in order to better track fluctuations in its operational efficiency over time. Among the specific targets are the following:
Of course, Target also has the opportunity to lead its "guests" to a more sustainable lifestyle, something it has pledged to do with a broader selection of products that were either manufactured or harvested with environmental sustainability in mind.
The retailer is actually ranked first on the Greenpeace Supermarket Seafood Sustainability Scorecard. No one has a particularly great score, but at least Target doesn't have any catching up to do.
This post was originally published on Smartplanet.com