Wal-Mart has a host of earth friendly events, activities and products on tap to help commemorate global Earth Month.

Doug McMillon, the Bentonville, Ark.-based chain’s international president and CEO, said: “Sustainability is a part of the everyday lives of associates who work at our Supercenters, Bodegas, Todo Dias, Sam’s Clubs and offices across the around the world. We know we can make the greatest impact on our communities by offering eco-friendly products and by supporting sustainable projects that are important to our customers.”

Throughout Earth Month, Wal-Mart is unveiling numerous sustainable products around the world, including the following:

-- In India, Easy Day stores launched flip-flops made of 100 percent recyclable materials
-- In China, Wal-Mart is offering a Mainstays compressed pillow, resulting in savings in transportation costs and shelf space
-- Wal-Mart Puerto Rico launched fashionable, reusable shopping bags with artwork from the Ponce Art Museum, and is donating proceeds from the sales of the bag to the museum
-- In partnership with Unilever, Wal-Mart Argentina also launched a special Earth Month-edition reusable shopping bag
-- Wal-Mart Canada announced its move to compaction in powdered laundry detergent

Wal-Mart is also teaming with communities around the world to host environmentally friendly activities throughout the month:

-- In Japan, Seiyu is co-sponsoring "Earth Day Orange Project" to regenerate abandoned tangerine farms. Seiyu customers have been invited to fruit-picking tours at tangerine farms, and the juice made from the harvested tangerines will be sold at Earth Day Tokyo 2009 later this month
-- In the United States, Wal-Mart's "Earth Day, Every Day" School Challenge will recognize schools and student bodies across the nation that are taking active strides to create a greener, healthier planet
-- In China, Wal-Mart and P&G joined forces with a non-governmental organization (NGO), China Green Foundation, on "One Million Wal-Mart Customers for a Greener China" project to plant trees

In all of the markets in which Wal-Mart does business, the company is joining with governments at all levels to continue to discuss ways to improve the environment. Wal-Mart Mexico will host store events with government officials to educate them on Wal-Mart's sustainability initiatives. Puerto Rico held a sustainability forum with government agencies, suppliers, media, NGOs and professors, creating a multi-sector sustainability alliance to establish sustainability goals for Puerto Rico.

Additionally, through its stores and associates, Wal-Mart is supporting Earth Month. In China, Argentina, Canada and Brazil, Wal-Mart celebrated Earth Hour by reducing sales floor lighting and external store lights. Associates also made voluntary pledges to cut lighting at their homes.

Also this month, Wal-Mart expanded its Personal Sustainability Projects (PSP) program, a voluntary associate-driven program, to Central America and Japan. "Earth Month is just one month out of 12 that Wal-Mart takes sustainability very seriously around the world," said McMillon. "Wal-Mart's global environmental goals are simple and straightforward: we want to be supplied 100 percent by renewable energy, to create zero waste, and to sell products that sustain our resources and the environment."