BriarPatch Announces 2025 Sustainability Goals

Climate Change is the most challenging environmental issue of our time.

And, according to National Cooperative Grocers, food production including agriculture, manufacturing, transportation and waste is responsible for 25 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. Fortunately, co-ops across the country are poised to be catalysts for change, prioritizing and building a more sustainable food system.

BriarPatch is a part of this movement. We’re excited to announce our 2025 Sustainability Goals and continued participation in the Climate Collaborative. Our commitment to Climate Action is rooted in our First Ends Policy: To act as a leader among local businesses and food co-ops nationally and contribute to environmental stewardship through our business practices.

Climate Collaborative is a consortium of 694 retailers, distributors and businesses committed to elevating climate action in the natural foods industry. As a member of the Climate Collaborative, BriarPatch has pledged to lower emissions by increasing energy efficiency, reducing food waste, transitioning toward sustainable packaging and supporting climate-friendly agricultural practices and policy.

Have thoughts or questions about the Co-op's sustainability efforts? Get in touch with BriarPatch Sustainability Coordinator Lauren Scott at laurens@briarpatch.coop.

By 2025 BriarPatch Food Co-op will:

Refrigeration

Reduce the use of hydrofluorocarbon refrigerants in existing systems by 50 percent. Implement natural refrigeration in all new building projects & major retrofits.

Energy

Reach 100 percent renewable energy & be energy resilient during power outages.

Packaging

Reduce use of in-house single use plastic packaging by 40 percent.

Waste

Divert 100 percent of food waste and 80 percent of overall waste from the landfill.

Carbon Neutral

Produce net zero greenhouse gas emissions.

Even amidst the obstacles of 2020, BriarPatch made considerable progress towards achieving these goals. We reduced our use of refrigerants by 29 percent, and our solar array generated 50 percent of our energy use in 2020 — a 5 percent increase from 2019! Additionally, we’ll see greater energy savings in 2021 from projects like the LED lighting retrofit completed in November 2020.

And, we diverted over 60 percent of total waste from the landfill with the help of several single-stream recycling programs including single-use gloves, flexible plastic film and waxed cardboard. It’s this kind of commitment that will carry us through to our 2025 goals... and beyond. Stay tuned!