We are excited to bring you the Texan by Nature 20 (TxN 20) for its third year! The TxN 20 is an effort to recognize the best work in conservation coming from businesses operating and based in Texas. It’s an opportunity to showcase innovation, commitment, and best practices from a variety of industries.
To select the 2021 TxN 20, the TxN Team evaluated submissions as well as conducted independent research across 2,000+ of Texas’ publicly traded and private companies within 12 industry sectors. All companies were evaluated on a 17-point scoring system to narrow down the list of the top 60 companies in Texas. A selection committee of top industry leaders was formed to evaluate the top 60 companies and select the final honorees for the TxN 20.
The retail industry is a huge driver in Texas’ economy and creates jobs in communities across the state with 28M people directly employed and 5.3M additional jobs supported by retail. With 371,000 retail establishments in the state contributing $400B in direct GDP impact, this industry supports and serves Texans from all walks of life. This industry is also serving up sustainability within their own four-walls and to their customers! From closed-loop recycling to LEED Certified buildings to renewable energy sourcing to sustainable packaging, retail leaders are creating a conservation-minded path to positively impact our future.
Learn more about the 2021 TxN 20 honoree from the retail industry and see a list of industry highlights.
2021 Honoree: Walmart
Walmart’s markets are familiar to shoppers nationwide, each week, approximately 220 million customers and members visit approximately 10,500 stores and clubs under 48 banners in 24 countries and eCommerce websites. Walmart’s efforts to source responsibly, eliminate waste and emissions, sell sustainable products, and protect and restore nature earned them a 2021 TxN 20 Honoree title. Walmart launched Project Gigaton™ that aims to avoid one billion metric tons (a gigaton) of greenhouse gases in Walmart’s global value chain by 2030 – more than 3,100 suppliers have formally signed on – having avoided more than 186 MMT of CO2e in 2020. Another part of Walmart’s climate strategy is investing in energy efficiency, fleet efficiency, and renewables. For example, the installation of more than 1.5 million LED Lights across their facilities saved more than $100 million over 10 years and their efforts to double fleet efficiency saved over $1 billion.
Read the full honoree Q&A write-ups and read the 2021 press release
Industry Highlights
In addition to this year’s TxN 20 honorees, learn more about best practices in conservation and sustainability coming from companies across the retail industry.
- Since 2013, CVS has provided medication recycling programs that ensure medical waste diversion by offering safe medication disposal options at all of their pharmacy locations. This protects drinking water supplies. To date, they have collected almost 2 million pounds of unwanted medication!
- In 2020, Dollar General partnered with Rubicon to prevent 12,000+ tons of dairy waste from entering landfills. Their efforts diverted 8,174 tons of this waste to use as animal feed, avoiding 1,152 tons of CO2 emissions. Additionally, 4,174 tons of this waste was processed through an anaerobic digester to produce natural gas, which was later sold to a local electric company.
- Over the past decade General Motors (GM) have increased their renewable energy use by 95 percent. In 2020, GM contracted their largest solar power project, which allowed them to meet 21 percent of their global energy demand with renewable energy. They hope to source 100 percent of their energy globally through renewable resources by 2035, and have committed to making their entire vehicle fleet electric by 2035.
- Target continues to lead in sustainable efforts. By 2020, more than 1,500 of their buildings earned the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s certification of energy efficiency, the ENERGY STAR status. Additionally, Target partners with programs like the Better Cotton Initiative (BCI), through which they helped farmers save an estimated 12 billion gallons of water. Target was a 2020 TxN 20 honoree.
- As part of their $100 million Right Now Climate Fund, Amazon announced a $10 million commitment in April 2020 to conserve, restore, and support sustainable forestry, wildlife, and nature-based solutions around the world. Amazon plans to collaborate with The Nature Conservancy to support family forest owners in the Appalachian Mountains, bringing economic prosperity while restoring and conserving the environment.