So what is more "Green"? Box stores, or 'mom and pop' stores? As in saving resorces and energy.

Question

Cause I just got done watching a show on CNBC about wal-mart and how it's destorying american life or something. And I was just wondering with all the oil prices and stuff going on, what would really be more economical for america? Big box stores with consolidation and effecent warehouses. Or mom and pop stores, just think if there was a mom and pop store on every corner in america along with a walgreens and a gas stations, there just isn't that many corners on an intersecton. I mean and the shipping would totally be crazy, I mean with having it all in one, every drop of gasoline can be monitored and with a mom and pop store goods are kinda just thrown on a truck and maybe not shipped the most effecent way....

So I don't know why people are still getting on box stores case...I mean it's capitolism at it's best and saying that it's wrong is pretty much saying you don't like capitolism...

Which would be more effecent now? Like TODAY! not 30 years ago...don't make fun of my spelling

Answer 1

I've actually found some stores that have declared themselves to be balancing their business with carbon offsets, which may be the new standard regarding shipping and environmental damage.

Answer 2

The big box stores (Wal-mart etc.) are more efficient.  That is why they have lower prices.

No economist doubts this.  It is called "economy of scale".

I don't consider buying toilet paper to be a central part of the "American Cultural Experience".  Paying more for it doesn't make me feel more American.

Answer 3

Then: Mom and Pop wake up in the morning, and walk across the road, or down the block, and open up the store. It's located near it's customers, so some, or a lot of them just walk to the store to get what they need, and carry 1 or 2 bags home. As the customer passes the parking lot, out of boredom he counts the 3 cars.

Now: Mom and Pop wake up in the morning, and go out and get in their Buick, and drive to work at the local Wal Mart. They arrive, then walk around the equivalent of a block from their car to the door because that's where staff parking is. The customers come in their cars, and spend 10 minutes trying to find a spot to park. While walking in they pass 50 or so cars parked in the same row of the parking lot as they did.

Now, are you sure that it's really better for the environment? I mean say a town has 20 of those mom and pop stores each getting 3 trucks a week. That's 60 trucks traveling long distance each week, and not so many cars...the cars that did travel had very little travel time, and did not spend 10 minutes looking for a place to park. Now it takes 10 minutes to drive to the store, and another 10 to park. I cannot walk to Wal Mart in my town, it's just not reasonable since it is situated on the edge of town, and on a highway with no sidewalks leading to it.

All the "Box stores" did was switch from them producing so much emissions to the consumer producing them.

Think about this simple thing: We used to be able to walk to the store to get a loaf of bread for a quarter. That was just 20 years ago. Now it takes 2 gallons of gas to get to Wal Mart, then the loaf of bread costs $1.25. The gas is $4 a gallon, so that loaf of bread that should cost $1.25 would cost you $9.25 So we buy more at a time now. Great! Now we need a bigger fridge to keep it all in, and it takes more electricity. More expense on us. Now we keep our door open on our house while we make multiple trips to the car to get bags. That increases our heat bill in the winter, and cooling bill in the summer.

Oh, and another thing...we used to get our groceries in a paper bag. That paper bag could be placed on the compost heap, and turned into usable soil. Now we are stuck with plastic almost everywhere we go. We throw them away. How green is that? It's greener for the "Box company" to ship those bags because they are lighter, thus use less fuel, but in the end how green is it to fill our landfills with plastic bags that have been used once and will take forever to degrade? The few Mom and Pop stores that I have found still around still used paper bags.

Overall I would say that the mom and pop stores would be more green. They also didn't get a display, use it for a few weeks or months an throw it away. All of the refrigerators and freezers had doors on them in the mom and pop stores. What would pop have said if you had told him "I'm going to take the top off of this here freezer so the customer can see the product inside better"?

You really have to think about the big picture if your going to think about how green "Box stores" are compared to Mom and Pop stores.

Edit Wow that was a long post, sorry if I was ranting.

Answer 4

Well, Wal-Mart gets most of it's products overseas (from places like China). By comparison, the "Mom and Pop" stores (or the few that are left), usually buy more local things to sell.  So I would say Mom and Pop stores are better for the environment.

I personally don't shop at Wal Mart; sure Wal Mart is capitalism at it's greatest, but that doesn't mean it's a good store.  I live in a capitalist society, but I don't have to like everything about capitalism.  Wal Mart pays it's employees the least that they can, people who work there usually can't afford to care for their families, they usually can't afford heathcare.