Ends Policy #4: An enterprise that engages in sustainable and regenerative environmental practices.

We strive to minimize our ecological footprint by engaging in practices that protect, preserve, and restore the environment while prioritizing partnerships with suppliers who share this commitment. Our operations emphasize conserving natural resources, reducing pollution and waste, and mitigating greenhouse gas emissions through clean technologies, energy efficiency, sustainable sourcing, and waste reduction efforts. We also work to build climate resilience across our operations and supply chains by strengthening our ability to adapt to climate-related disruptions.

Vermont Green Business Program

We are proud to be recognized by the state of Vermont for being a Vermont Green Business. The Vermont Green Business Program recognizes businesses that demonstrate values that exemplify a sustainability-focused economy.

Waste Stream Stats at the Co-op

73.7

Tons of Cardboard Recycling

66.53

Tons of Compost

42.76

Tons of Comingled Recycling

50.32

Tons of Landfill

About Terracycle

Terracycle Program

You may have noticed the message “This item’s packaging can be Terracycled” on your receipt, or seen the six white collection bins located at the Front End, just past the registers. These bins support our participation in the Terracycle recycling program.

What is Terracycle?

Terracycle is a national recycling organization that partners with manufacturers to recycle hard-to-recycle packaging, such as pouches, wrappers, plastic tubes, and other materials that are not accepted in conventional recycling streams.

Our store collects eligible packaging in the designated bins. Terracycle then provides pre-paid shipping labels, allowing us to return these materials to the manufacturers for proper recycling. Participation in this program supports our mission to reduce landfill waste and promote responsible resource use.

Accepted Brands and Materials

Lundberg Family Farms

GoMacro

Tom's of Maine

Burt's Bees

All Brands of Baby Food Squeeze Pouches

Learn More

Additional information about Terracycle and its national programs can be found at terracycle.com.

Our Green Building

The Brattleboro Food Co-op’s building was awarded the 2012 EPA National Award for Smart Growth – Main Street or Corridor Revitalization by the United States Environmental Protection Agency. Throughout the assembly process of constructing the building shell, all the details and construction techniques required a high level of attention to sealing the exterior envelope against air infiltration, resulting in a superior, tight, thermally-efficient, high-performance building.

Insulation

The insulation levels are specified with a minimum R-25 at the walls, R-40 roof system, and R-20 at the foundation and slabs.

Windows

All windows are triple-glazed with fiberglass frames to minimize heat loss.

Roof

There is a green roof over a part of the store, while the rest of the roof has been set up structurally to be retrofitted with a green roof as funds become available. Green roofs reduce the “urban heat island” effect, help cool the building in the summer, and mitigate stormwater runoff by absorbing and slowing roof rainwater.

Siding

The building is partially clad in slate siding, a natural, durable, local Vermont product. It has better energy performance than brick and also reduces the structural steel requirements, which is both cost-effective and uses fewer resources and less embedded energy in the production of the steel.

Finishes

Building finishes were the latest in recycled, natural, durable, and eco-friendly products available on the market.

Floors

The floors are polished concrete, a natural, durable, and maintenance-free product that will not require solvent-based cleaners or sealers.

Tiles

All ceramic tiles in the store are made from 100% recycled products.

Counters

All the counter surfaces in the store are made of a solid surfacing product made from 100% recycled paper and locally fabricated in Springfield, VT.

Electricity

The electrical system and the roof’s structure were set up for the eventual addition of a solar-powered photovoltaic array to produce electricity. This project will eventually come online through a collaborative project with Co-op Power from Greenfield, MA.

The BFC Site Plan

The site plan was designed to reduce negative environmental impacts.

A bioretention area in the center island treats storm-water runoff from the parking lot.
Overall impervious surfaces have been reduced from their original conditions, reducing runoff.
Along the Whetstone Brook is a 20-foot vegetative strip to treat the overland flow of stormwater runoff.

Our Refrigeration System

In 2026, the Co-op will have a brand new refrigeration system. With the help of grants from the USDA’s Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) and the Vermont Low Income Trust for Electricity, we will be replacing all coolers and freezers on the retail floor, as well as the equipment servicing the walk-in coolers and freezers behind the scenes. The new system will use natural refrigerants, and will have a minimal impact on our climate emissions.

Bioengineered Foods

In 2014 Vermont passed a Non-GMO labeling law, but in 2016 Congress passed a law that preempted Vermont’s law. In 2019 and 2020, the USDA released guidelines on how retailers and food producers will label products in the future. This became mandatory compliance in January 2022.

What is Bioengineered Food?

The USDA Agricultural Marketing Service defines bioengineered foods as those that contain detectable genetic material that has been modified through specific lab techniques and cannot be created through conventional breeding or found in nature.

Please visit the “List of Bioengineered Foods” page from the USDA website, where you can view downloadable PDF Data Sheets on each item listed and keep up to date with newly designated foods.

The current USDA list of bioengineered conventional crops includes the following 13 foods:

Alfalfa
Apple - arctic varieties
Canola
Corn
Cotton
Eggplant - BARi Bt Begun varieties
Papaya - ringspot-virus-resistant varieties
Pineapple - pink flesh varieties
Potato
Salmon - Aqua Advantage®
Soybean
Squash - Summer
Sugarbeet

Read National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard

Bioengineered Foods Facts

Organic does not equal Bioengineered.

Products and food labeled with the official USDA ORGANIC seal are NOT bioengineered. Read an “Introduction to Organic Practices” provided by the United States Department of Agriculture.
Despite widespread familiarity with the terms GMO and Genetically Engineered, the new labels will exclusively use the term Bioengineered to refer to foods that contain genetically modified DNA.
Companies are prohibited from using the terms GMO, genetically modified, and genetically engineered on their labels to describe products that do contain genetically modified material. Read “What is a bioengineered food?” provided by the United States Department of Agriculture.
More information about GMOs can be found at the U.S. Food & Drug Administration website.

What to look for on the package?

Despite the potential for confusion, USDA offers food companies several ways to legally label bioengineered foods, to be determined at the company’s discretion.

Companies may choose one of the following methods to disclose bioengineering:

A Written disclosure on the ingredient panel that says “bioengineered food” or “contains a bioengineered food ingredient.”
An icon/symbol which has been designed by the USDA that reads BIOENGINEERED (see image).
An electronic or digital disclosure by offering a QR code on the package, which can be scanned using a smartphone and leads to a website address with a written bioengineered food disclosure. This is the least transparent option and unfair to shoppers without a smartphone or reliable internet access to view the bioengineered food disclosure online. In certain circumstances, companies could also use text messages, phone numbers, or web addresses for consumers to inquire about bioengineered disclosures.

Sustainability