When you think "green", you usually don't think "big box store." But maybe you should.

As Thomas Friedman's article in the New York Times Magazine pointed out, a number of major companies, Wal-Mart in particular, have started to recognize the economic as well as the environmental benefits of reducing their ecological footprints.

And as they say, once Wal-Mart goes so too does everyone else...

Today Home Depot introduced a new line of products called Eco Option, which offer customers an environmentally-friendly alternative when they are shopping for home supplies. The Eco Option line contains 3,000 products from energy-efficient light bulbs to natural insect repellent. By 2009, Home Depot hopes to increase the number of green products to 9,000, which would represent 12% of total sales.

Home Depot happens to be the largest supplier of construction materials, and the company hopes that the new Eco Option line will encourage builders and home-owners alike to make the switch to green products. Many of the Eco Options cost slightly more at the cash register. But green products tend to be cheaper in the long run since you save on electricity.

Hopefully with stores like Wal-Mart and Home Depot proving that green is good for business, more companies will choose to follow suit. But for now, the ball's in our court.

[via NYTimes]