Adam Werbach first became famous for being picked to head the 500,000 member Sierra Club at the age of 23, after being a Sierra Club organizer in high school and college. He was hugely successful in increasing membership and critically, in lowering the median age. Then he became notorious (on top of his fame) for deciding to accept a challenge from Wal-Mart to help them become a sustainable company. The clinching argument was simple: how could he turn down a chance to impact the largest company on earth, with one of the most extensive networks of suppliers.
His approach was to show the employees ("associates") of Wal-Mart why and how to make their own lives sustainable-- thus inspiring them to do their part to help change the company. This approach is being adopted by Saatchi & Saatchi.
The problem, of course, is parallel to the arguments against working with Wal-Mart: just as Wal-Mart's mission is to sell stuff cheap (and for recent decades, hang the consequences on suppliers and their staff, the communities in which they locate, and their own staff), S&S's mission is to help companies sell more stuff -- at whatever price. Both missions are fundamentally incompatible with a truly sustainable society.
And yet...IF, and that's not large enough --
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