RSS FeedHow Green Was My H&M
By the time you’re reading this the heat wave (they say) will be a distant memory. Maybe you’re thinking “well it really wasn’t all that bad.”
Only it was that bad, maybe worse. We love hot weather, but that was miserable. So it is with mixed emotions that we write about a business like H&M that props open their doors for the entire day, during those miserably hot days, to let the A/C blow out and cool part of the sidewalk.
Walking by, boy does that cold air on the sidewalk feel good. And I’m sure lots more people stop into their shop to beat the heat when reminded how cool it is inside.
But shouldn’t a company that has a corporate responsibility page dedicated to environmental issues show better judgment than this? Are we just being killjoys?
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Comments
It is a very, very wasteful and counterproductive practice. Any cool air spilled onto the sidewalk just means that much more hot air being generated on the roof, and more greenhouse gases at the power plant.
This is what happens when corporate pays the bills and managers just run the store. This is wasteful both environmentally and economically.
So pleased you posted about this. I walked by yesterday and was disgusted. I’ve seen the doors open last year in the hot weather and actually saw a pedestrian try and shut the doors. The security screamed at him. I haven’t been in H&M since and will not frequent it in the future. H&M–I hope you are reading this.
i’ve definitely wondered about this before….
do they think their refreshingly cool air will draw people in to the store and in turn increase their sales? even if they gained a few customers that would not have otherwise come inside, the couple of $15 shirts they sell pales in comparison to the countless hundreds they’ve wasted in energy to entice the customer in with cool air.
i think you should send a message to H&M corporate HQ, and let them know that you are a well-read blogger in the neighborhood, and maybe you’ll make a bigger deal of this. call them out on their hypocrisy. make them squirm a little. nothing wrong with that.
I agree with #8.
I know it seems like being a killjoy based on our past, but honestly – we have to make more of an effort to reduce our usage of energy – and this instance is particularly troubling as it is a wicked circle! Hot outside – cold inside – let the cold outside – heat rolls in and gets created on the roof – run the A/C to make it cold, let the heat in, on and on…..
I just sent an e-mail to H&M corporate HQ. That felt good! I hope that a few of us complaining will change this dumb practice of theirs.
They must’ve opened the doors after the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act crashed and burned in the Senate last week. What a pitiful result from our nation’s leaders in the current energy environment.
this was their response….
H&M appreciates your feedback and continued patronage.
Regards,
H&M
lol. let’s see if they do something about it.
So, this is what I received back from H&M (see below). Can anyone say “proforma response”?
Thank you for your e-mail.
H&M appreciates your feedback and continued patronage.
Regards,
H&M
H&M had their doors open again today, at least between 2 pm and 4 pm when I walked by at those times. Guess they don’t read the blog (or do and wanted to stick it to us!).
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not at all. When people and businesses blatently disrespect environmental concerns, it causes those who do make an effort to live “green” to question their efforts.
Yesterday, Pepco asked our building’s management to ask people to voluntarily reduce their energy consumption by turning off unneeded items that use electricity. Guess what: people actually turned of their lights and worked by the light coming in through the windows. Also, the a/c was turned DOWN. We felt great, but how does that make us feel when we walk by H&M and other businesses and they are air conditioning the air outside?!