In 2005, we made a commitment to become a more environmentally sustainable retailer.

In 2005, we made a commitment to become a more environmentally sustainable retailer. We set ambitious goals for our Company and adopted an approach we call "Sustainability 360." This approach involves taking a comprehensive view of our business — both inside and out — to find ways to reduce our own environmental impact while engaging our suppliers, associates and customers around the world in our sustainability efforts. Overall, Sustainability 360 recognizes our ability to make a difference on the environment, and that this difference pales in comparison to the results we can achieve by leveraging our entire global supply chain.

Our sustainability goals are: To be supplied 100 percent by renewable energy; to create zero waste; and to sell products that sustain our resources and the environment.

Since our last sustainability report in 2007, we have continued to make progress on these goals and expand upon and improve our initiatives in each area. We have also identified new opportunities for improvement and set new goals that will help us achieve even greater results as we work to become a more sustainable company.

To date, we have made progress in becoming a more sustainable company by bringing more affordable and environmentally preferable products to our customers and working with our suppliers and their factories to improve the environmental and social responsibility of our supply chain. But we still have a long way to go to reach our three larger goals. We recognize that we have room for improvement in every area and will continue to develop innovative ways to approach the challenges we face.

Despite these challenges, we believe that we can be an even better steward of the environment and a good neighbor to communities around the world while growing a profitable business. By bringing these ideas together, we have built our sustainability program to maximize our unique opportunity to drive positive and sustainable change throughout our supply chain and into the homes of millions of people. Ultimately, we hope our changes will shift the way products are sourced, manufactured, delivered and sold while saving our customers money so they can live better.

OUR MISSION

Sustainability 360 is the framework we are using to achieve our goals and bring sustainable solutions to our more than 2 million associates, more than 100,000 suppliers and the more than 200 million customers and members we serve each week. Sustainability 360 lives within every aspect of our business, in every country where we operate, within every salaried associate's job description, and extends beyond our walls to our suppliers, products and customers.

Sustainability 360 also requires a new way of integrating sustainability into our business. To help us do this, we established 12 Sustainable Value Networks (SVNs) in the U.S. Each network is led by the management team and associates within the division most closely aligned with the business and the real-world applications of the SVN goals. We believe that our SVNs can more effectively drive and promote sustainability within their own business area — whether it is seafood, logistics or buildings — instead of simply creating a "Corporate Social Responsibility" division.

Each SVN includes representatives from non-governmental organizations (NGOs), government agencies, academic institutions and supplier companies who help build a collective center of knowledge within each area and generate innovative, practical solutions for the business.