Sustainability Snapshot | Spring Quarterly 2019
Sustainability Snapshots
The long journey to the landfill
We’ve all seen the Recology trucks hauling away full bins of trash. Stop by stop they pick up one full bin after another and drive off into the distance. Well ‘off into the distance’ isn’t just a little ways in this case. The trip doesn’t end after the trucks leave the curb. The landfill-bound haul makes a trip in Recology trucks and is dropped off at Humboldt Waste Management Authority (HWMA). From HWMA the trash is contracted for hauling with Bettendorf Trucking and begins a northbound journey ending at Dry Creek Landfill in Oregon.
Dry Creek is doing its part with best-practices for environmental protection with a system of collecting methane gas from its landfill to then become usable electricity for about 3,000 homes in the area. ]\
While this system is making the best use of landfill waste, and I congratulate Dry Creek on their responsible innovation; prevention is still the best system for reducing waste. So, the next time you’re in the Co-op, I invite you to try out shopping using your own containers to save some packaging from taking a big trip to Oregon.
What’s the deal with bulk tofu?
You may have heard the whispers of tofu being available some way somehow in the Co-op and that it is both local AND package-free. It’s true, dear friends, it’s so very true! Both store locations have been offering local bulk tofu for many years.
Tofu Shop tofu is delivered to the Co-op waste-free and is stored waste-free. If you choose, it’s even available for purchase waste-free. Locally produced organic tofu is delivered in food-grade reusable buckets that we return for sanitizing and refilling. Inside the food-grade buckets are tofu blocks submerged in water. Each block is about a pound of delicious extra-firm locally produced tofu! You also get a discount if you bring your own container to the deli counter and keep the whole journey package free.
Zero-Waste Beach Clean up
The Northcoast Environmental Center and North Coast Co-op are working together to make this year’s Coastal Cleanup Day Zero Waste. The Co-op is collecting empty bulk bean, grain and coffee bags from our Bulk departments and food-grade buckets from our Deli. Instead of serving just a single use, they will be handed out to volunteers to collect trash during this year’s Coastal Cleanup, replacing the plastic bags that have been used in the past.
“The Northcoast Environmental Center would like to thank the North Coast Co-op for providing materials to aid in the effort to host a completely Zero-Waste Coastal Cleanup Day for Humboldt County on September 21st 2019!” -Northcoast Environmental Center
