Sustainability Consortium helps fight 'eco-babble'

According to Walmart, No. 1 on the Fortune 500, calculating the environmental impact of its products is good for business.

Jay Golden, co-director of the Sustainability Consortium and assistant professor in ASU's School of Sustainability, comments in this April 15 Fortune 500 video featured on money.cnn.com.

"Sustainability Consortium is a group of leading academic researchers from around the world, co-led by the University of Arkansas and Arizona State University, working with industry, government, and NGO's to develop the science and infrastructure to allow manufacturers around the planet to measure and then report up the supply chain – eventually to the retailer – about the sustainability of the products they manufacture and how they're used by the public.

"Consumers are very confused because there's what we call 'eco-babble': hundreds of labels and certifications that sometimes are contradictory. What is green? What is sustainable? We're really trying to provide that definition and clarify, focused on the science and transparency."

Walmart announced its investment in the Sustainability Consortium in 2009.