Going Green
The past few years have witnessed a tremendous growth in the environmental movement. While the roots of the modern green movement date back to the late 1960s, never before has it been so easy for the average consumer to buy products designed and manufactured with sustainability in mind.
Many in the fresh-cut industry have taken sustainability to heart. Whether it’s going so far as to build a biogas facility that uses waste to create energy, as Gills Onions has done, or to work with growers to reduce pesticide use and use fewer inks or corn-starch based film bags, processors are steadily joining the ranks of green producers.
This month’s Fresh Cut is focused on green initiatives. Inside, you’ll read about Lifestyle Foods, which looked at environmentally friendly packaging when it expanded its line of convenience grab-and-go items. You’ll also find a story on an innovative new pizza chain, Pizza Fusion, that has built its business on sustainability – from the construction of its stores to the fuel-efficient vehicles that deliver pizzas to the packaging the food goes in. You’ll also read the comments from industry packaging experts about what it means to package green and where the industry is going.
This issue got me thinking about how sustainably I live. I drive a fuel-efficient car and live less than a mile from the office, so even though it’s within walking distance, I don’t feel too badly about driving to work in a Michigan winter. When I renovated my house, I made sure it was well insulated to reduce the amount of energy needed to heat and cool it. At the office, the staff is now turning off lights in rooms no one is in and turning off computers at night. Paper is a necessary evil in the publishing business, but we proof as much as possible electronically.
The only area I found that I could do better in was food. I’m constantly throwing out food that went uneaten – sometimes leftovers, other times packaged items that went unopened.
What’s the solution to cutting down on that waste? For me, it means making a list of meals for the week instead of buying whatever looks good at the grocery store. It also means buying more manageable package sizes – the big bag of potatoes or the family size tray of fresh-cut salad may look like a better deal, but not so much if half of it gets thrown away.
Making sustainable choices is easier than ever for businesses today. It no longer means sacrifice, but can actually benefit the company – if not from better consumer acceptance, then from the monetary savings of reducing costs.
