Just a few short years ago, Walgreens in San Diego California, celebrated the opening of the first all “green” drugstore.

And to make it even nicer, there was no shiny ribbon made from chemicals overseas to cut… no way! They planted a tree! in honor of the opening.

Walgreens has held its own as the nation’s largest drug store and hopefully it will start setting a trend in its new retail offerings.

The San Diego location was built from the ground up with an eco-friendly agenda in mind. It follows all the top environmentally friendly design concepts and isn’t too hard on the eyes either. In fact, it actually exceeded the standards by not only having a green design but also by offering a great selection of green products.

So how does this all play out?

Walgreens in-store lighting
The store was built to optimize natural light and with the integration of skylights, solar tubes and led lights, they use 75% natural light during the daylight hours and they have reduced energy consumption for lighting by 50%

Landscaping Innovation at Walgreens
They used all native plants which will require no watering whatsoever once they have adjusted to transplanting. Here in San Diego that’s a pretty big deal as we are in the midst of a level two drought emergency…

Water Conservation at Walgreens
They are mitigating storm water pollution from the surrounding buildings by collecting and filtering water as it flows onto their lot. Water use is estimated at 50% below LEED standard levels.

Structural Integrity at Walgreens
75% of materials were building salvage materials from the previous structure that existed on the lot.
White roofing was included to lower the natural absorption of heat onto the roof which increases heating costs.

Great Extras at Walgreens

• such as hybrid car parking spaces
• bike racks
• nearby public transportation

Walgreens is not the first to consider the joys of going green. Other large retailers have made some nods in the right direction by increasing their inventories of more green goods (like Target and Wal-Mart). But Walgreens is the only one to take this commitment to a real and notable level.

Walgreens has gone on to commit to making similar modifications to their existing 6k+ stores in addition to continuing to move in this direction with all new stores.

Great Healthy Brands at Walgreens
*Healthy Times Organic Baby Products

*Biofusion- This is Walgreens own brand of hair care products that incorporates natural ingredients into the formulas.
*Burts Bees
Great cottage industry manufacturer that grew into a nation-wide success…and is now using that success to leverage environmental progress.
*Clorox Greenworks
This is Clorox’s brand of green cleaning products which use
*Nature’s Source SC Johnsons green plant based cleaning products are environmentally friendly and versatile in selection.
*WaterU Is another Walgreens made product. A reusable BPA Free water jug that comes in a variety of different sizes.

Living the “green life” is an across the board experience. Every step you can take in this direction will help the planet in the long run.

Walgreens just made it a little easier to make a better choice and to help yourself and the world at the same time. Now, click the links and shop green!