Move Over Wal-Mart

In yet another article on the mainstreaming of environmentalism, Newsweek International reports that the world's third-largest retailer, Tesco, is building 80 new eco-stores in the UK.

... cash registers powered by rooftop wind turbines, skylights instead of light bulbs and photovoltaic solar cells on the roof to help power the bakery's oven. It's so environmentally friendly that even the toilet water is collected from raindrops outside. ... the greenest of [the new stores] will be constructed of recycled materials and will burn food waste for electricity—they're also making small changes that could have big effects. They're paying customers not to use plastic bags ...

Most Americans won't be familiar with it, but Tesco is Wal-Mart's European counterpart, founded on the same "pile it high, sell it cheap" philosophy as Sam Walton's and just as loathed by English progressives as Wal-Mart tends to be by American ones.