ShopRite is marking Earth Day and Earth Month by taking steps to reduce the environmental impact of its stores.
For over 40 years, ShopRite has supported and advanced a wide range of initiatives to reduce food waste, bolster recycling, increase energy efficiency and make a meaningful difference in the communities served by ShopRite stores.
This year those efforts include another store solar panel installation and the addition of more electric vehicle charging stations at ShopRite locations. ShopRite Green Teams are also volunteering to help organizations like the Delaware Riverkeeper Network, the Audubon Society and America’s Grow-A-Row.
Highlights include:
Solar Panels and Renewable Energy
Last fall, the ShopRite of Brodheadsville flipped the switch on 4,300 solar panels. The 10-acre solar array is located next to the store in Brodheadsville, Pa. and is designed to supply nearly 90 percent of the store’s energy. The Kinsley family, owners and operators of the ShopRite of Brodheadsville, invested in solar power to help reduce electricity costs as well as limit the store’s environmental footprint. Brodheadsville joins several other ShopRite stores in the switch to solar.
EV Charging Stations
On Wednesday, April 24, the ShopRite of 1st State Plaza in Delaware will cut the ribbon on a new public EVgo fast charging station for electric vehicles. The new charging station, located in the store parking lot, is part of a push to install EV charging stations across the ShopRite store footprint. Other stores that have rolled out EV charging stations include Brookdale ShopRite, the ShopRite of Flemington, ShopRite of Carteret, ShopRite of Glassboro, and the ShopRite of Williamstown with more planned.
Reducing Food Waste
ShopRite continues to expand its food waste recycling efforts to reduce and divert waste from landfills. At the same time, stores are increasing donations of fresh foods to food banks and pantries, with more than seven million pounds of fresh food donated annually to food banks and pantries that help people in need.
Recycling
ShopRite has recycled more than 2.6 million tons of materials since opening its own recycling facility in the late 1970s. The commitment to recycling today extends across all ShopRite stores, with dedicated recycling bins. Many Own Brand items, including Paperbird and Paperbird Blue home-cleaning products and Bowl & Basket food and beverages, also feature a special How2Recycle® label developed by the Sustainable Packaging Coalition and designed by GreenBlue. The easy-to-read How2Recycle® label clearly communicates recycling instructions to consumers.
Natural Refrigerants
More ShopRite stores are using natural refrigerants that are a sustainable alternative to other refrigerants and decrease energy, gas and water consumption while reducing greenhouse gas emissions from refrigeration.
ShopRite Green Teams Volunteer in a variety of ways including:
America’s Grow-a-Row
ShopRite supports America’s Grow-a-Row and its mission to help people in need through volunteer efforts of planting, picking, rescuing and delivering free fresh produce. Once again this year, Green Team associates from the ShopRite of Hunterdon County volunteered at the Grow-a-Row farm in Pittstown, NJ to pick fresh corn that was distributed to food pantries in New York City and Philadelphia.
Delaware Riverkeeper Network
The Green Team from Ravitz Family Markets, which operates five ShopRites stores in Burlington and Camden, NJ, will participate in a cleanup with the Delaware Riverkeeper Network on May 2. The ShopRite Green Team volunteers will work to remove invasive English Ivy from Cooper River Park trails in Haddon Township, NJ.
Connecticut Audubon Society
Garafalo Markets, which operates ShopRite stores in Connecticut, participated in a cleanup day with the Milford chapter of the Audubon Society earlier this month to clean and protect natural bird habitats.
