Renewable Resources at City Market
By John Tashiro, General Manager
How time flies and already a fourth of the year gone by! Spring is always an exciting time at the Co-op as it signals the wonderful return of color and vibrancy. We see it represented in the extended range of produce coming in and even more broadly with our various product offerings. This may also raise more of a curiosity about the origins behind food, and a good reminder about our Earth Week activity this month promoting the globally recognized Earth Day celebrations on April 22.
Did you ever wonder how Earth Day first started? It goes as far back as 1970 when Earth Day founder Gaylord Nelson, then a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin, witnessed the ravages of the 1969 massive oil spill in Santa Barbara, California. Inspired by the student anti-war movement, he realized that if he could infuse that energy with an emerging public consciousness about air and water pollution, it would force environmental protection onto the national political agenda.
On April 22, 1970, 20 million Americans took to the streets, parks, and auditoriums to demonstrate for a healthy, sustainable environment in massive coast-to-coast rallies. By the end of that year, the first Earth Day had led to the creation of the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the passage of the Clean Air, Clean Water, and Endangered Species Acts.
In 1990, Earth Day went global, mobilizing 200 million people in 141 countries and raising environmental issues, especially putting recycling efforts onto the world stage. The Millennium brought the focus onto global warming and a push for clean energy. And in 2010, the Earth Day Network brought 250,000 people to the National Mall for a Climate Rally, launched the world’s largest environmental service project through a global tree planting initiative (A Billion Acts of Green), and engaged 22,000 partners in 192 countries.
Today, Earth Day is considered the largest secular observance in the world, celebrated by more than a billion people every year, and a day of action that changes human behavior and provokes policy changes.
You might be wondering about the Co-op’s efforts in this vain so I just wanted to share the following:
Waste diversion: In 2015, we diverted over 370,000 tons of landfill waste through recycling, composting and recovering food scraps for animal feed. This equates to 83% of our total waste for the year. In addition, we recycle film plastic internally (and soon customers will be able to as well!) which has diverted approximately 5,000 lbs. of plastic annually from the landfill. This material gets recycled into products like Trex decking or plastic pallets. We are planning to offer plastic bag collection to our customers in the future.
GHG Emissions: In 2015, we reduced our emissions to 464 Metric Tonnes CO2 equivalent (TCO2e) compared with 630 TCO2e in 2014. This the equivalent of taking 25 cars off the road for one year.
Solar: We use a 32KW system consisting of 136 x 220w panels that has the potential to power about 6 Burlington homes, although we currently use all of this energy for the store.
LED Retrofits: We have retrofitted 90% of the store with LED lights and use a computer control technology that has generated over $25,000 in electrical savings annually. And our partnership with Burlington Electric Department continues to grow each year.
Refrigeration: We use the heat created from refrigeration to preheat water before entering the water heater which greatly reduces the amount of natural gas we burn. This method of heat recovery also reduces the electrical energy needed to power large condenser fans.
Join us to celebrate environmental sustainability, not just for Earth Day, but for Earth Week! We'll be giving away free reusable bags (in 2 different sizes) to customers who would normally need a plastic or paper bag starting Monday, April 18 through Sunday, April 24 or while supplies last. Thank you to our bag sponsors which include Seventh Generation, Field Day and Cabot Creamery!
South End Updates
Now for some updates with expansion into the South End…
Logistics: The zoning amendment for the South End site was approved by the City Council and we are excited to begin our permitting process shortly.
Design: We continue to make strong progress with store internal and external designs, and are monitoring their financial implications as they evolve.
Community Engagement: Before finalizing the plans for this store and breaking ground this coming summer, we want to hear from you! Join us to learn more about our progress and to provide your input at one of our community engagement sessions which are taking place on April 11 & 12 from 6:30-8pm at the Switchback Taproom at 160 Flynn Avenue. These sessions are open to the public. No RSVP is required, but you can sign-up via Facebook: April 11 or April 12.
As always, thank you all for your continued support. We are committed to serve you, our Members and the community. Looking forward to seeing you at the Co-op and wishing you our very best.