AN UPDATE ON OUR CO-OP'S SUSTAINABILITY
by Ben Becker, Newsletter Writer
For Willy Street Co-op, Earth Day is a reminder of our mission to serve people and the community by providing access to quality, local foods, but also to enhance our environment in all our activities. This mandate was enshrined by our Board of Directors in their Ends statement, requiring that our cooperative “nourishes and enriches our community and environment.”
Meeting this goal demands more than just our annual recognition of April 22. Co-op Owners can see many of the ways that we honor this commitment. Visible efforts include our product selection, our rain collection barrels, our energy-efficient closed-door refrigerated cases, and even our electric vehicle charging stations powered by clean, renewable energy. If you look up when you enter our Willy East store, you might even catch a glimpse of our solar panel array.
Many of the ways we protect natural resources are not apparent. Behind closed doors, your Co-op is using low-flow spray valves and air-cooled ice machines. Strategies like these keep our water consumption low. The power of the sun is providing hot water in our HVAC system without anyone taking notice. You may not have realized that Willy Street Co-op also partners with Green Power Tomorrow in order to include wind and solar energy as part of our energy portfolio. Tucked away from the sales floor is a disposal system that diverts thousands of tons of discarded materials away from the landfill through composting and recycling.
Our success in enriching and nourishing our environment requires participation at all levels of the Co-op. It requires a strong commitment from our managers and those who make operational decisions. However, the actions of every employee and customer also determine the impact we have on our planet. One facet is the support our cooperative gives to renewable and regenerative food systems. In other areas, we enrich our planet by upholding principles and policies that avoid unnecessary ecological destruction. For that reason, our operational staff work to abide by a set of guidelines that govern responsible purchasing decisions about the equipment within our stores. Among these guidelines are a mandate to seek out energy-efficient equipment whenever possible, in order to reduce our reliance on carbon energy. It also steers us away from supporting the creation of toxic chemicals, such as the dangerous carcinogens produced in the manufacturing of chrome. When seeking out new products and vendors, we also follow a Product Selection Philosophy, to seek out partnerships with others who share our values and commitments to both the community and environment.
OUR CLIMATE COMMITMENT
Not only do we work to uphold these principles internally, but we stand up for these values publicly. A notable aspect of this is through our commitment to the Climate Collaborative. On March 17, 2021, the Willy Street Co-op Board of Directors voted to make a commitment to the Climate Collaborative. By making this commitment, we are recognized among a number of forward-thinking organizations along with other cooperatives including National Cooperative Grocers, Durham Co-op Market, and Organic Valley. The climate commitment areas chosen were:
- Energy Efficiency: Increase energy efficiency
- Food Waste: Reduce food waste in the supply chain
- Short-Lived Climate Pollutants: Reduce short-lived climate pollutant emissions
In order to achieve these commitments, we have taken a strategic approach to pursuing sustainability in several areas. Here are a number of ways we have successfully implemented this strategy.
Increased Energy Efficiency and Reduced Carbon Energy
In order to decrease emissions and our carbon footprint, we are continuing to pursue projects and activities that will increase our efficiency and reduce our reliance on fossil fuels.
In recent years, we have seen progress in our emissions goals through the use of renewable energy and offsets. We are continuing to identify new projects and opportunities that will offset our energy use and carbon footprint even more while upgrading our operational infrastructure to use as little energy as possible. The chart at the top of this page outlines recent progress in reducing the Co-op's carbon footprint.
To bring about continued reductions in energy use and to optimize efficiencies, we have worked with our community partners including MG&E, Sustain Dane, and the Ethical and Responsible Business Network at UW-Madison. Upcoming improvements will include more sustainable equipment and refrigeration systems. You will notice more of our cooler cases will be equipped with closed doors to save energy and improve product quality as we continue this work.
Renewable Energy
Your Co-op has worked to incorporate several projects and partnerships in order to maximize the use of renewables within our energy portfolio. You can see the impact of our renewable energy use on the Co-op’s carbon footprint in the charts above.
- O’Brien Solar Fields: Through our partnership with MG&E, Willy Street Co-op participated in the opening of the O’Brien Solar Fields in Fitchburg. Through this partnership, your co-op is contracted to receive the local, clean energy produced by a 250 kW section of this 200,000-kilowatt solar field. The combination of the Renewable Energy Rider project and other renewable energy programs offsets over 50% of the energy our cooperative consumes through local, clean, and renewable sources.
- Willy East Solar Array: We continue to maintain and utilize our rooftop Solar Array at our 1221 Williamson location.
In 2022 we produced 26.13 MWh of solar energy using East’s Solar Array. Over their lifetime, these panels have generated 169.74 MWh.
Green Power Tomorrow
In addition to producing solar energy, we also buy wind and solar offsets through Madison Gas and Electric. Each month, we purchase 30030 kWh of this clean renewable energy.
Using the EPA Calculator to measure the impact of using clean renewable energy from the O’Brian Solar Fields, our Willy Street Solar Array, and Green Power Tomorrow, we can estimate the level of carbon emissions avoided through our sustainability projects. By using clean energy sources, we had an equivalent impact of removing 856 tons of carbon from the atmosphere over the last 12 months. That is the equivalent of taking 184 gas powered vehicles off the road. It is the equivalent of 947 pounds of coal burned. To have a similar impact we would need to plant 14,154 trees for a decade, recycle 296 tons of waste, or preserve 1,000 acres of forest.
Waste Reduction
Oftentimes nourishing our environment means thinking about what happens to products and packaging after we are finished with them. In 2020 and 2021, our Cooperative worked to overhaul our recycling infrastructure and practices. A major objective of this work was to reduce our recycling mis-sorts. When waste is not properly sorted, it can contaminate recycling loads. Even a small degree of recycling contamination can result in the entire load being dumped in the landfill. By keeping staff well-trained and empowered to sort waste properly, we avoid unnecessary contributions of greenhouse gasses from landfill emissions.
One way we reduce landfill emissions is to control our food waste (see Jess’s article in this month’s Reader for more information). To provide a rich and diverse product selection, our operations have to think about what happens if food isn’t sold or eaten. To that end, composting performs an important role within the Co-op’s overall strategy of environmental stewardship. You may have encountered compost buckets in our commons, by which we collect food scraps from customers. These buckets are collected each week by EarthStew, which uses vermicomposting to transform waste into new organic material.
These buckets only make up a small part of our compost collection. For each freshly produced bottle of juice or dish made in our Deli, there is an orange peel or a pile of carrot shavings leftover. These back-of-house food scraps are gathered separately from other waste and diverted into our organic waste receptacles.
We partner with a number of service providers who collect and process these materials using aerobic composting facilities. Among these service providers is Greenbox, who we are proud to support as a small local business. Since partnering with Greenbox, we have diverted approximately 9,000 pounds of organic material locally to compost.
Partnering with EarthStew and Greenbox benefits our Co-op and our environment in multiple ways. Notably, it keeps this organic material out of landfills, where its gradual breakdown through a process of anaerobic digestion would release methane gas. Uncontained methane is a dangerous menace to our atmosphere—a chemical with a global warming potential 30 times that of carbon dioxide. Composting reduces our carbon footprint, but it also is a great way to protect water and reduce consumption of that valuable resource. By collecting organic waste instead of relying on garbage disposals within our sinks, we keep this waste out of the local sewage system.
Composting is also a great way for our Owners to reduce their own food waste. The production of compost is really an easy and approachable way that we can all use to care for our planet. Composting greatly reduces the waste stream created at home (consider that 30% of waste that goes to the landfill is made from food scraps and yard waste). Organisms that digest organic waste provide nutrients to the soil and can improve plant growth in our garden or farm field.
Making compost is fairly simple in terms of technical ability. It only requires three essential ingredients. First, you will need browns. These are materials with a high carbon content such as dead leaves, branches, or twigs. This carbon will provide an energy source for the unseen microbes that will perform the real work of the composting process. Soil microorganisms also have the ability to sequester carbon into the soil itself, removing it from the atmosphere.
Next, you will need your greens. This refers to materials that are rich in nitrogen (a chemical essential to plant growth) such as grass clippings, vegetable waste, fruit scraps, or coffee grounds. You will want to balance out your compost mix so that the greens and browns are roughly equal to each other in volume. Finally, you will want to add water to keep your compost mix moist and well-hydrated.
While these three basic inputs summarize what you will essentially need, the list of compostable materials is inclusive to many household waste items including fruits and vegetables, teabags, eggshells, coffee grounds, shredded newspapers (avoid color pages as the ink may contain toxic metal), yard trimmings and grass clippings, old house plants, hay and straw, leaves, sawdust, woodchips, old rags, dryer lint, hair and fur, and even fireplace ashes. There are some organic materials you will want to exclude, however, in particular animal products such as milk, fat, bones or meat, as these will create unpleasant odors and attract unwanted pests.
If you have access to a yard or outdoor space, you will want to carve out an area for your compost pile. Pick a dry shady spot near a water source. Once your compost space is designated, you might choose to build a bin, basically a three sided enclosure that will allow you to both contain your pile while also accessing it with your rake for turning. If you are willing to make a greater financial investment in your compost project, you might also choose to purchase a compost tumbler.
Once your space or container is set up, go ahead and add the brown and green materials you have collected, being sure to chop or shred the larger pieces. Next, add some water to your dry materials. After your compost pile has had some time to become established, you can add fruit and veggies by burying them below a ten inch layer of material. You may also choose to keep your compost pile covered with a tarp to prevent moisture from escaping. It is very important that as you add to your pile and the composting process progresses that you continue to water it and stir it with a rake or trowel. This is especially important during the summer months when decomposing organisms are more active. Stirring and layering the compost allows the microorganisms within the pile to gain access to oxygen, permitting the aerobic digestion that produces that pleasant smelling nutrient rich result. Without oxygen, the compost will instead engage in anaerobic digestion, releasing gasses and turning your pile into a smelly mess and a potential breeding ground for pests. If you have ever witnessed a compost pile that included animal products or was improperly maintained, you will know just what a foul and fetid sight it can be.
The amount of time it takes for your compost process to be completed will vary between two months and two years depending on weather and conditions. If your pile is well-maintained, you should end up with a rich substance dark in color with a pleasant earthy or nutty odor known as humus (not to be confused with the garbanzo bean dip).
If you don’t have access to a yard or outdoor space, you can still compost inside as well by using a special type of bin. Essentially, you will be following the same process as an outdoor compost but on a smaller scale. Be careful to ensure that you are properly maintaining your indoor compost so that you avoid attracting pests and rodents, and you should find yourself with a healthy humus in two to five weeks.
Keeping the planet safe is no easy task, and there are still numerous challenges as a result of irresponsible behaviors on the part of governments, corporations, and people in general. While these shortcomings must be acknowledged and addressed, Willy Street Co-op is looking forward to doing even more to safeguard this planet for the generations ahead. We know we can’t do it alone, and only through the support and participation of our Owners and community will we nourish and enrich this environment for the sake of tomorrow.