Walmart's efforts to sell sustainable products reveal a massive divide among American consumers

• Walmart has made an ambitious effort to get its budget-conscious customers to buy more sustainable products. 
• CEO Lee Scott called employees and suppliers to reduce waste, use more renewable energy, and sell products that "sustained people and the environment."
• But within a few years, the company realized selling sustainability to its customers would be more difficult than expected.
• Although the market for environmental consciousness is growing, it has primarily catered to people with a lot of disposable income who can afford premium products like Toyota Priuses and organic foods.
• This led Walmart to focus less on consumers and more on suppliers.
• A 2014 study of 100 companies found Walmart was the top-cited retailer driving suppliers' investments in product sustainability — 79% identified the retailer as influential.

---

What a difference the birth of a granddaughter can make.

For Lee Scott, who ran Walmart from 2000 to 2009, the arrival of his granddaughter not only convinced him the threat of global warming was real but set him on a course that altered the very DNA of the world's largest retailer. He decided he wanted to use its size and resources to make the world an "even better place for all of us," changing the way millions shop in the process.See the rest of the story at Business Insider

NOW WATCH: What's going on with Elon Musk

See Also:

• I've saved enough at age 28 that I'll be a multimillionaire by retirement, and I used Warren Buffett's favorite investing strategy to do it
• Your opinion matters — Join BI Insiders program
• Rapper Azealia Banks claims she was at Elon Musk's house over the weekend as he was 'scrounging for investors'

SEE ALSO: Aldi just revealed its next assault against Walmart, Amazon, and Kroger