Nothing Fishy at Target by 2015 (Unless It's Sustainable)

Target, the second-largest discount retailer in the country, has put a good chunk of its own energy toward creating sustainable-energy plans for the company, which has helped create a stronger awareness of how America can get greener for the millions of consumers who shop there. In 2008, Target started collecting more and more eco-friendly product lines to sell at its stores and, in 2009, it gave financial incentives for shoppers to bring their own bags.

As Target puts it on its own site, the company is “continually ‘rethinking’ our merchandise assortment to lessen impacts on our communities, our environment and our bottom line.” (Never forget the bottom line, folks.) With that in mind, the Minneapolis-based retailer has announced that it is “will sell only sustainable, traceable fish by 2015,” according to the Sacramento Bee.

Last year, sustainability issues inspired the retailer to cease sales of farmed salmon, Chilean sea bass and orange roughy, the Bee reports, and it now sells about 50 different fish brands certified by either the Marine Stewardship Council or the Global Aquaculture Alliance. In order to reach the goal at its 1,762 stores in the United States, Target has partnered with the nonprofit marine conservation group FishWise, which will do vendor surveys and evaluations to ascertain what makes the cut and what doesn’t, according to the Bee.

"We thought this larger commitment to fully eliminate anything that's not certified by 2015 would be the right thing to do to encourage our guests to make the right decisions," said Shawn Gensch, vice president of marketing for Target's sustainability initiatives, according to the Bee.