Sustainability Goals by 2025 Continued

Sustainability Goals by 2025 Continued

You had questions about the Co-op's Sustainability Goals by 2025 and we have answers! BriarPatch is continuously working towards improved sustainability in all areas of our operations. Check out our most recent efforts!

Belly of the Beast

Hydrofluorocarbon refrigerants represent the largest single-source greenhouse gas emission at BriarPatch. Since 2017, we’ve reduced our annual refrigerant use by 58 percent. By 2025, we aim to cut our use an additional 50 percent. At our second store in Auburn, natural refrigerant systems are in the current plan. Hello future!

Now I See the Light!

The Co-op gets 50 percent of its power from the sun, generated onsite by a 295-kilowatt solar carport. We want 100 percent of our power coming from renewable energy, so we’re looking to add additional solar panels and batteries to increase our resiliency during power outages. We’re getting smarter with our energy use, too. In 2020, we completed a LED lighting retrofit for the entire store and parking lot.

Just Say ‘No’ to Food Waste

We love food. That’s why we strive to keep 100 percent out of the landfill. We donate edible food that cannot be sold to local hunger relief agencies like Interfaith Food Ministry, Food Bank of Nevada County and Hospitality House. Food waste that is not fit for donation is picked up by local farmers three times a week to feed animals or build compost. In 2020, we began offering food waste diversion for folks dining at BriarPatch.

Don’t Be Trashy

In 2020, BriarPatch increased our overall waste diversion from 53 percent to 63 percent by decreasing how much material we send to the landfill. How do we do this? Reducing, reusing, recycling and composting!

Beyond municipal recycling, we:

• reuse and recycle ALL cardboard — our single greatest source of material waste

• recycle waxed cardboard through Enviro-Log • recycle single-use gloves through Terracycle

• recycle clear plastic film through UNFI

Bye-Bye Plastic

We really want to reduce in-house single-use plastic packaging — and acknowledge it is a challenge in the grocery industry. Sadly, less than 9 percent of all plastic is recycled, and an estimated 32 percent ends up in our oceans.

As we work to identify alternatives to single-use plastic, we’re committed to offering the most environmentally-sound packaging available.

Look for re-usable bags and containers in our Produce and Bulk Departments and when you check out. We sell and encourage the use of reusable utensils and straws. And of course, bring your own!

You can fill up your Klean Kanteen at our free water refill station in our dining area. We replaced plastic wrap on our bulk cheese with biodegradable cellophane made from wood-based fiber. Our Produce Department continues to work with farm-direct partners to identify the most sustainable produce packaging, including paper-based ReadyCycle berry containers.

For more information on packaging con–siderations for products sold in the store, please see our Merchandising Policy at briarpatch.coop/merchandising-policy.