The View from the Mirror and the Moon: Leading with Intentionality this Earth Day
Lead with a "blue marble" perspective even in the middle of a busy store.
Earlier this month, on April 10, 2026, the Orion spacecraft splashed down in the Pacific Ocean, safely returning four astronauts from their historic journey around the moon. During their ten-day mission, they looked back at our world and saw a fragile blue marble suspended in the dark. It is a perspective that changes a person. It forces you to see the big picture. If you haven’t seen all of the stunning pictures from the mission, I encourage you to take a look online. They are amazing.
Each day in retail rarely requires us to consider all aspects of our planet. There is so much right in front of us. With so many calls, conversations, and emails, we rarely think about the bigger picture. Instead, we focus on the immediate "now." We see the mountain of cardboard in the backroom, the rolls of plastic wrap on the pallets, and the energy humming through busy stores. It is rare that we stop to think about how our stores make a difference on the planet. When you are buried in a seasonal transition or managing a staffing shortage, sustainability can feel like a "nice to have" instead of a "must do."
Earth Day 2026 feels a little different to me, having just seen those pictures from the Artemis mission. It reminds us that this place we call home is a responsibility for all of us, not just some and not just some of the time. To be clear, the efforts do not have to be extreme or over the top. Often little things than any of us do can make a difference. Then when you think of all the retail stores and leaders that support these businesses across the country and across the world, the multiplier is enormous. Being intentional on just a couple things will go a long way.
Consider this, when just thinking about retail locations with a physical address and standalone presence, it is estimated that there are nearly 1.1 million retail locations in the United States. That can be as high as 3 million when you add in other mall stores and locations that house multiple stores at the same address.
Worldwide, it is difficult to estimate this, but this number could be close to 10 million across the global, and that doesn’t even account for small local markets that serve so many smaller areas and countries.
The 2026 Sustainability Shift
We are at a watershed moment in retail. Sustainability is moving from a compliance obligation to an "intelligent performance engine" that drives actual business results. It is no longer just about doing the right thing for the environment; it is about efficiency and growth.
Leaders who want to engage their teams should share the "why" behind these efforts. People want to know that what they are doing matters. When you connect the work to a larger purpose, people go further and care more. You might mention that Gen Z shoppers are now over 50% more likely to choose a product based on sustainability. Or remind the team that recycling just one ton of cardboard saves 17 trees and enough electricity to power a home for half a year. When you connect the dots between a flattened box and a saved forest, the task changes from a chore to a contribution.
Leading with Curiosity
Curiosity might be the most important leadership skill there is. It is what keeps you learning and growing. Instead of telling your team to "waste less," try asking better questions to discover possibilities.
Ask your frontline associates, "What is one thing we do every day that feels wasteful?" or "What would you try next to help us save resources?". This creates space for diverse thinking and allows the team to offer real ideas. When you ask, "What do you think we should do?" you help people develop their own thinking and turn day-to-day work into development.
These approaches don’t have to be huge things; again, small shifts can make big differences. And the approach doesn’t have to be about expenses, as they often appear to be. Many of these ideas will simply be the right thing to do. If it happens to save money along the way, great. Otherwise, it is having a more positive impact on the one thing we all have in common: Earth.
Small Steps, Intentional Results
Being intentional means using your time and energy in a way that matches the needs of your team and business. You do not need to master every sustainability goal at once. Pick one area where you want to improve and start there.
For Store Leaders: Look at those secondary areas of your operations that we only think of when something goes wrong. Are the HVAC set-points optimized for the season? Is the recycling process being followed, or are we taking shortcuts when it gets busy? Lights off in break rooms, offices, or restrooms when not being used?
For District Leaders: Be intentional with your travel. Use your calendar to plan visits that maximize impact while minimizing your carbon footprint. The route you take can change how much time you’re in the car or the number of miles driven. UPS is famous for optimizing their routes for time, safety, fuel efficiency, and reduced emissions. (Think routing with as many right turns as possible.)
About 90% of UPS turns are right turns. The company claims it uses 10 million fewer gallons of fuel, emits 20,000 fewer tons of CO2, and delivers 350,000 more packages per year. [1]
The Courage to Change
It takes courage to challenge the way things have always been done. It means standing firm when the easy thing would be to go with the crowd. Our humanness should not be underestimated. In a world driven by technology and AI (which, by the way, is something we will need to figure out, due to huge impact on global energy usage), the value of being a real person who shows genuine care for the community is increasing.
As we celebrate the return of the Artemis II crew and Earth Day this year, take a moment to look around you. Ask yourself if you are modeling the behaviors you want to see. Are you helping your team learn to solve problems themselves, or are you just shielding them from the reality of our footprint? Same effective leadership quality in supporting your team, can also support our planet. Choose to be the leader who sees the "blue marble" even when you are standing in the middle of a busy store.
How can you take your store's sustainability to a legendary level this year?
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[1] https://www.bsr.org/en/case-studies/center-for-technology-and-sustainability-orion-technology-ups#:~:text=process%2C and people.-,The Opportunity,daily travel of its drivers.