Recent Sustainability Accomplishments at the Co-op

Every year, our General Manager reports to the Board of Directors on what we are doing to achieve our Ends Policies, which state our purpose as an organization: what we are trying to accomplish, for whom, and at what cost. Our Ends Policies were updated in 2023. Below, Board member Evan Silber shares his impressions of the End #4 reports, which address the Co-op’s sustainability efforts from the last couple of years. 

You may know Evan from our Grocery Department or from when he used to work at Dottie’s Discount. A long-time Vermont resident, Evan has over 15 years of experience in the grocery/co-op industry as both a vendor and retailer. He holds degrees in biology and chemistry and, as a member of our Green Team, is committed to helping the Co-op achieve its sustainability goals.

First, I think we have to emphasize how important sustainability is. It is just common sense that without working within a sustainable framework, we will use up our natural resources and pollute the planet beyond habitability. 

To do our part in helping to prevent that, we have End #4 that states that we will “engage in sustainable and regenerative practices”.

The most important element in implementing sustainable practices was our first step of hiring a Sustainability Coordinator, Sarah Brennan, in the summer of 2023. In her first year, she and our Supplies Buyer reviewed many of our containers for their environmental impact, and made some changes. We have greatly reduced the amount of plastic in the store as a result. She has implemented and monitored several new recycling programs. She has restarted the Green Team with a group of interested employees. And she keeps us aware of our progress through frequent notes in The Beet (the staff newsletter), and Food For Thought. Most importantly, we have an employee who is dedicated to streamlining our operations in a way that makes us as sustainable as possible, and monitoring our environmental impact as well as keeping all of us shareholders and employees abreast of our efforts and accomplishments. 

With the help of the Green Team, the Co-op donated 11,500 lbs (nearly 6 tons) of unsellable food to local organizations in 2024 – a big increase from the previous year. This helped contribute to our 80% landfill diversion rate.

Also contributing to this is our expanded recycling program. We now recycle clear plastic film from our internal operations (we kept nearly 2,000 pounds out of the landfill in our first six months of this program), in addition to cardboard, plastics, etc. We added the option for customers to recycle product packaging that would otherwise go to the landfill, such as baby food squeeze pouches and Late July chip bags, through partnering with Terracycle. And we have made every effort to make sure any of our in-store packaging that isn’t recyclable is compostable, reducing plastic from being persistent in our ecology. [One exception to that is in our clamshells in Deli, Bulk, and other departments – those are still plastic. That was explained here.]Most recently, we worked with the Ratio Institute to apply for a grant from the USDA REAP (Rural Energy for America Program) to replace our old and leak-prone refrigeration systems with a new state of the art environmentally friendly system. This will lower our environmental impact through both reducing our electricity use, and lowering our greenhouse gas emissions. [P.S. We were awarded the grant!]

Evan Silber, Board Member

Related articles: My View of Sustainability as a BFC Board Member, Sustainability at the Co-op: Big News!