Wal-Mart Stores (NYSE: WMT) has been advertising its "green" environmental initiatives for quite a while now. Light bulbs, organic foods and potting soils, electronics packaging materials and recycled products are all available at Wal-Mart these days, and although I believe it could do more to promote its green stance, the retailer's effort so far is admirable.

Wal-Mart will soon be taking the green approach to its transport fleet by using more natural gas-powered vehicles. The Peterbuilt 386 hybrid truck reclaims wasted energy from the engine and uses it for power later on. Just as in hybrid passenger cars, the truck's "regenerative braking" reclaims lost power for battery charging in the vehicle's electrical system.

Even an efficiency gain of a few percentage points is enormous considering the number of Wal-Mart trucks all over the landscape daily. Gains of five to seven percent can be made in efficiency with these new Peterbuilt transport vehicles, which is sizable all things considered. The system, not expected to be in full use until 2010, is a great move by a big retailer. What it needs to do is market this to its customers, even though it is not directly product related. Will it do this? It's not clear. But some marketing along these lines might be a good break from "everyday low prices."

In the never-ending quest to "stay green" in some form or fashion, the world's largest retailer -- Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE:WMT) -- has installed freezer cases with lights that turn off when no customers are around and cooling systems that recycle heat from refrigerators.

Sounds a little high-tech, yes? After decades of grocery shopping in stores that are models for energy waste, some of the new features of certain Wal-Mart stores are a model of energy efficiency as the chain strives to control every last expense as well as be a model for other retailers that would like to curb energy waste and use the positive PR from it to improve image.

Some new Wal-Mart stores are pegged to use 20% less energy than other Wal-Mart Supercenters, according to the company, which said that the new type of store will move it closer to achieving its environmental goals, i.e. using less energy and producing less waste.

So, even if this is in response to critics who claim that Wal-Mart endangers the environment, it's a great move to save energy regardless of motive. What do you think?

The world's largest retailer, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE:WMT), is getting into the development of a diesel-electric hybrid truck for deliveries and other usages. In fact, it may be the first kind of its kind in the country, according to reports. Wal-Mart is co-developing the truck with ArvinMeritor, an auto component supplier.

Both companies joined together for a press release this week to state that they were partnering to develop a dual-mode, diesel-electric drivetrain for a class 8 truck. That is significant because that specific kind of truck is known to be the "workhorse" of the U.S. long-distance trucking industry.

What does this mean? Wal-Mart's foray into "being green" just took another significant step further, as delivering an 18-wheeler drivetrain that works on a combination of diesel and electricity would be a huge impact to the environment, and especially for such a large company like Wal-Mart that probably has more goods hauled in these types of trucks than any other company.

Something many of us don't regularly think about concerns something the world needs to operate day in and day out -- light. Although there is plenty of natural sunshine that covers the planet, the need for indoor lighting for homes, businesses, factories and warehouses remains a need and will never go away.

How about trying to save on all that energy use? Global retailer Wal-Mart ,Inc. (NYSE:WMT) wants to do its part (however symbolic) by using more energy-efficient trucks and stores in many areas. It's hard to argue that Wal-Mart is not doing good for the environment here, even as those efforts probably pale in comparison to the environmental damage Wal-Mart does in some areas.

In addition to that, the retailer seems to now be pushing sales of fluorescent lighting in an effort to get rid of the inefficient incandescent light bulbs that customers usually buy. Those types of bulbs rarely need replacing and use way less energy than traditional bulbs. Of course, Wal-Mart wants to capture those sales -- but then customers may not ever be back to replace the bulbs for a decade or so.

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.'s (NYSE:WMT) march towards being a "green" corporate citizen is hitting the public relations marketplace like a storm recently. The world's largest retailer is showing up all over the place now due to its green strategies and environmentally-friendly stances and strategies.

Wal-Mart said today that its technologies designed to reduce waste and become more environmentally-sustaining are already yielding results at two experimental stores after one year. This is heady news for a company the size of Wal-Mart, although I'd like to see proof that its strategies are indeed showing results after just one year beyond a corporate press release. However, Wal-Mart did say that these recent successes are prompting it to continue studying the further implementation of its methods so far.

Wal-Mart stores in Texas and Colorado feature technologies designed to reduce operational and construction waste and also use recycled and renewable materials. Wal-Mart also stated that the two stores were designed to conserve water and electricity using LED lights that use less electricity, generate less heat and last longer.

In addition to LED lights being used in these two newer stores, Wal-Mart said it will use the lights in freezer cases in new stores nationwide starting in January of next year. It took until 2007 for something as simple as light replacements in freezer cases, but it's a start.