By Tina Li Gunn
For the Enterprise
In an effort to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, a local grocery store has made the commitment to become a carbon-neutral business.
The Ballinger Thriftway, along with the Magnolia Thriftway, are the first mainstream supermarkets in the Seattle area to go green by offsetting their carbon footprint.
Carbon dioxide is commonly referred to as greenhouse gas, a contributor to global warming. A carbon footprint is the measure of one’s consumption of carbon dioxide-emitting activities, such as driving a car, air travel, using electricity and even buying food from far-away sources.
While reducing waste and consumption is good, carbon offsets go a step further by helping to create renewable energy sources, according to experts from the nonprofit organization Native Energy.
Jeff Taylor, director of operations for the two Thriftway stores, said that being a carbon-neutral business was “important to our customers, makes good business sense and is the right thing to do.”
The two stores began their efforts last month. Taylor explained that Thriftway currently partners with local farms, bringing in produce that is organic and grown using sustainable farming practices. Carbon offsets were the next logical step, he said.
The two nonprofit organizations that aided the stores in their green efforts were Native Energy and NetGreen. The nonprofits helped the stores to calculate their carbon footprint as well as how to offset those greenhouse gas emissions.
Consultants from NetGreen calculated the amount of waste that the stores were producing and the amount of electricity being used.
Linda VerNooy, executive director of NetGreen, explained that although everyone could reduce their own carbon footprints by cutting back on using heat, driving their car less and traveling less frequently, there was no reasonable way to completely omit such things from everyday life.
“What we can do is to harmonize our impact on the planet,” said VerNooy.
VerNooy further explained that the average person emits 12 tons of greenhouse gas emissions each year, but that each person could offset what he or she emits for about $12 per month.
The $12 is invested into renewable energy projects such as wind farms that generate wind-powered electricity and methane projects that convert methane gas from cow manure into electricity.
By using family farms and Native American reservations to host such projects, it not only helps the environment, but it also creates economic benefits and stability for both, she said.
Both Thriftway stores have made carbon-offset greeting cards available to customers. By purchasing a $12 greeting card, customers will have offset their greenhouse gas contributions for the month.
As a part of Earth Day last month, the stores had also made available to customers free saplings for their plant-a-tree project. Taylor said they plan to continue to incorporate interactive ways that customers can help the planet.
In addition to creating renewable energy credits through carbon offsets, the Thriftway stores have implemented commercial waste reduction and recycling programs.
Taylor said that it cost the stores 30 percent less to compost old produce and flowers and recycle them than it did to trash them. Their overall goal is to reduce the store’s waste by 20 percent.
“We will easily exceed that goal,” said Taylor.
Being in a neighborhood that cares about environmental practices, the community has embraced the grocery stores’ progressive efforts, said Taylor.
Taylor said not only has the response from customers been positive, but that employees of the stores were proud to be a part of the green efforts as well.
“We want to be better stewards of our planet (and) if we can raise awareness, then we have accomplished something,” he said.
Visit www.nativeenergy.com to calculate your own carbon footprint. Other local businesses who are committed to offsetting their carbon footprint may be viewed at www.achievenetgreen.org.
Tina Li Gunn is a student in the University of Washington Department of Communication News Laboratory.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
