ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY AND OUR CO-OP

March 4, 2021

One of the core values of our Food Co-op is environmental sustainability.  We aim to center environmental sustainability in everything we do.  We will seek to be as environmentally friendly as we can without jeopardizing the financial strength of the store.  We will do our best to minimize food and packaging waste.  We will seek to minimize the generation of environmentally sensitive waste such as plastics by minimizing its use to the extent possible.  We will minimize energy consumption in the store and maximize the use of non-fossil fuels for generation of that energy.  We will also seek suppliers who are just as concerned about environmental sustainability as we are.

To this end, the board has just approved the formation of a Sustainability Advisory Committee. This committee will investigate and recommend changes to operations that offer the Food Co-op the opportunity to be even more sustainable.  The committee may investigate: alternative packaging that reduces plastic and other non-biodegradable waste; alternative outlets for our food waste such as commercial composting facilities; adding solar panels to the roof of the store or the purchase of renewable energy credits to offset the use of fossil fuels in store operations.  The committee may also propose educational events to our Co-op’s events committee, which for years has been conducting in person and now online events to foster more environmentally sustainable practices by our community.

We can make our store a model of environmental sustainability for decades to come.  For more information about the Food Co-op’s Sustainability Advisory Committee, contact us at fxbgfoodcoop@gmail.com.