Comments on: What Makes A Company Green?

By: Alex Spencer

Alex Spencer — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 15:34:54 +0000

Reading all of these outstanding things that whole foods does to make their stores green is inspiring. I am currently a customer at the new Memphis store. I question whether these green stnadards are held in this store. Not only do I see very little recycling but the organic produce selection is bare. I think the Memphis store may need a little help to make it feel like a real whole foods store.

By: Elliot Spano

Elliot Spano — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 14:46:40 +0000

I find it strange that a food retailer like Whole Foods would market CFL’s which contain mercury. For some reason food + mercury doesn’t seem to fly with me. This seems to be some important info that was left out of this article. Each CFL contains roughly 4mg of mercury, some run at 500Hz which is unhealthy (normal is 50Hz), and in the picture above there is about 50 lamps visible = 200 mg of mercury, ready to be disposed of improperly into landfills. If anything these companies should be using LED lamps? Thoughts anyone?

By: Tom Griffin

Tom Griffin — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 14:26:31 +0000

Great blog, Kathy — i couldn’t agree with you more on the tracking and reporting. Action is still the most important piece, and Whole Foods does so many incredible things. But being able to demonstrate effectiveness is critical to program success and it gives you the ability to share your story and help to set the example for other organizations to follow. And it allows Whole Foods to receive recognition at the national level!

By: Rick Hausman

Rick Hausman — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 20:14:24 +0000

There’s no Tesco around here, but is it true that the Britain-based supermarket chain has been labeling many of its products with the number of grams of CO2 emitted in manufacture? That seems like a huge commitment, but if true, it would set a standard for environmental enlightenment that even Whole Foods doesn’t currently match. Knowing that curtailing GHG emissions is among the most critical issues facing the planet, I’m sure many of us customers would appreciate the ability to modify our carbon footprints by comparison-shopping among side-by-side products. Any plans along these lines?

By: Carlos

Carlos — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 16:48:57 +0000

I too shop at Whole Foods for their commitment to healthier ingredients, organic & local foods etc.
But like Jason I believe there is room for more improvement. I imagine that many Whole Foods customers like me probably also try to do what is best for the environment at home by recycling as much waste as they can. One issue I’ve always found to be inconsistent across all food shops is the variety of plastics used that aren’t recyclable in the county they’re sold. Whole Foods could make a great contribution to the consumer recycling movement by lobbying for particular plastic varieties relevant to the districts recycling laws in which those products are sold, enabling the consumer to recycle as much byproduct as possible without raising the costs of recycling due to the filtering that must take place at the recycling plants. In Westchester County (NY) for example only plastics labeled 1 or 2 can be recycled, anything else has to be filtered out. The majority of plastics used for frozen foods are either 5,6 or 7, causing a rise in recycling costs if mistakenly recycled or just waste due to the lack of meeting the recycling requirements. If Whole Foods encouraged their vendors to use plastics that are recyclable across counties or districts recycling costs would go down and finally bring the recycling cycle full circle.

By: Jason

Jason — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 17:00:15 +0000

I continue to shop at Whole Foods because of their dedication to organics and a better environment. However, there is still plenty of room for improvement. Constructive criticism let’s call it. I am disappointed in Whole Foods for continuing to support in-store Jamba Juice use of styrofoam cups. Considered one of the worst products on earth, it’s a wonder why Whole Foods partnered with them. In addition, as mentioned above, we eat in store on paper plates with plastic utensils. Even worse, each utensil is individually wrapped in plastic. At the very least, we could eliminate the individual wrapping. Whole Foods could also focus on purchasing from vendors that use safer packaging. Many products on shelves still use styrofoam. Continue to work towards a better life!

By: Ted Lemon

Ted Lemon — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 16:03:21 +0000

This is good stuff. I’m happy to hear about the effort you’ve put into getting rid of plastics in the distribution process.

So please don’t take it as a put-down when I mention this: I sitting in the dining area at the Austin downtown Whole Foods eating my breakfast with a plastic fork on a paper plate. I know having a commercial dishwashing facility is expensive, and some customers might prefer plastic and paper to metal and reusable plastic or ceramic dishes, but it sure would be nice if that option were available.

Is this just impractical? One of the things my wife and I really like about eating in as opposed to eating out is the reduction in waste, but actually I think at Whole Foods because you use those great all-cardboard takeout boxes, I’m better off taking it home… :’}

Anyway, thanks for writing this up – it’s good to hear what you’re doing, and please don’t take my question as a criticism of what you’ve accomplished.

By: Kathy Loftus

Kathy Loftus — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 15:30:08 +0000

@Regina: Great idea to provide more details about our composting. We have various programs going on around the country, so I’ll pull all that info together and do a full blog post on that soon. Thanks for your interest!

By: Dennis Salazar

Dennis Salazar — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 03:02:55 +0000

Kathy:
I just accidentally found your blog and I applaud what you are doing in terms of sustainability as well as transparency. Many who share our concerns are quick to criticize and slow to encourage but Whole Foods is setting the standards or commitments and actions. Congratulations on a very informative article and a great looking blog.

Dennis Salazar
President
Salazar Packaging, Inc. and
Globe Guard Packaging Products

By: Regina

Regina — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 21:32:55 +0000

Hey Kathy! I love your post here. Since I’ve just finished a post on Composting, your point “Moving closer to zero waste with many regions diverting more than 80% of waste by recycling and composting.” is very interesting to me. Where exactly is Whole foods waste composted? In my minds eye, I see a HUGE truck backing up to a compost pile for a community garden that is thick and lush with organic goodness! Tell us the story!