According to facts and statistics gathered from the website Big Box Tool Kit, Big-Box stores play a huge part as far as pollution is concerned. The specific facts can be found here:
As seen on the above website, parking lots are a major cause of pollution, since they block the earth's natural ability to absorb and filter pollutants from rain-water. As a result, this dirty water ends up in streams, lakes and rivers, doing untold damage to the local environments. The water contains significantly higher levels of Nitrogen and Zinc, which wreak havoc on the ecosystems around these bodies of water.
Big-Box stores also generate a huge amount of car traffic, with a single 200,000 square foot Walmart (the average size for this type of store) generating up to 10,000 car trips in a single day. Fast-food chains also generate a high-volume of traffic, and these tend to spring up in areas with a Big-Box store, compounding the issue.
Additionally, several studies have been conducted in the last 2 decades which indicate that the introduction of a Walmart or other "Category Killer" chain store typically has drastic effects on local businesses. In short, businesses already in an area when a Walmart springs up find that they can no longer compete with the larger chain’s lower prices, damaging business.
Also, a study concluded that of every $100 spent at a chain store, only about $45 gets put back into the local economy. The rest is moved into the corporation elsewhere. This is in contrast to the $65 which gets returned by small business owners. In short, money spent with smaller businesses tends to stay local, and vice versa.
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