Wal-Mart Canada turns down lights to save energy

TORONTO, ONTARIO - Today, in Digital Home's ongoing effort to promote companies and organizations that are making an effort to reduce their energy usage and carbon emissions, we highlight Wal-Mart Canada.

The company announced that, for a fourth consecutive year, Wal-Mart is initiating its reduced summer lighting program in 270 of its 299 stores across Canada.

By reducing the consumption by one-third, the company, which has 1.75 million light bulbs chain wide is effectively turning off the equivalent of more than half a million light bulbs. The result is lower costs, less energy usage, reduced carbon emissions and in Ontario, less stress on our fragile power grid.

The reduced summer lighting program was piloted in Wal-Mart stores throughout Ontario in the summers of 2005 and 2006 in response to ongoing summer energy concerns following the massive blackout of 2004.

Since 2005, the company says it has been working towards three long-term sustainability goals globally and in Canada: to produce zero waste; to be powered 100 per cent by renewable energy; and to make more environmentally preferable products available to customers.

Other initiatives currently underway by the company to reduce electricity consumption include: changing its 1.75 million light bulbs chain wide to lower wattage bulbs, as replacements are needed; switching exterior signage to lower wattage LED lights; adding additional insulation to the roof of new and converted stores which led to reduced energy loss by 25 per cent last year.