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Sustainability

  • Target outranks all other U.S. retailers in solar capacity

    Target Corp. has knocked Walmart off its perennial top spot in an annual ranking of the U.S. companies with the most solar energy capacity.      Target now has 147.5 megawatts (MW) of installed solar capacity, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association’s 2016 Solar Means Business report, which ranks companies based on capacity current through the third quarter of this year.     

  • Regional grocer expanding

    Stater Bros. continues to grow its footprint in Southern California.   The San Bernardino, California-based company announced that the Ralphs Supermarket in Riverside (California) will be converted to a “Blue Ribbon” Stater Bros. supermarket. (Stater’s “Blue Ribbon” units are energy efficient and environmentally friendly.)   At 46,000-sq.-ft., the Riverside store will undergo an extensive remodel, and reopen under the Stater banner in spring 2017.  

  • Whole Foods Market honored for eco-friendly refrigeration

    Whole Foods Market has received an award for deploying cutting-edge, advanced refrigeration technology.   The grocer received the 2015-2016 “Best of the Best” award from the EPA’s GreenChill Partnership for using an advanced, more environmentally sustainable refrigeration system at its store in Dublin, California.  

  • Wendy’s cuts energy use

    The Wendy’s Company is in the spotlight for dramatically reducing energy usage.    The company received two environmental awards from the 2016 Lighting Energy Efficiency in Parking (LEEP) campaign. Wendy’s was recognized for the largest absolute number of facility upgrades and highest percentage energy savings in a retrofit of a parking lot.   

  • Report: Target to test vertical farming — in its stores

    Target Corp. is planning to test an agricultural process that involves growing plants indoors in precisely programmed conditions.   The discounter plans to test vertical farms within select U.S. stores, according Business Insider. The idea grew out of the Food + Future CoLab, a collaboration between Target, Ideo and the MIT Media Lab.  

  • Coffee giant in environmental milestone

    Starbucks Corp. has opened its 1,000th LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) location.    The store, in Ames, Iowa, uses LED lighting to decrease energy use by 30%. Water use was reduced by more than 50% due to low flow sinks and other equipment.    

  • RILA in conference partnership with Sustainable Brands

    The Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) is merging its sustainability-focused conference with Sustainable Brands.     Beginning in 2017, the two will produce a single conference together than includes a retail-specific program track, in addition to Sustainable Brands’ usual program, which covers sustainability-led brand innovation across multiple consumer-facing industries.  

  • Whole Foods’ rapid solar rollout

    Whole Foods Market is saving money and time — and benefiting the environment—by taking an innovative approach to going solar.

    That’s according to an analysis by the Retail Industry Leaders Association and The Solar Foundation that found Whole Foods’ strategy of taking a standardized approach to rapid rollout of solar rooftop installations across multiple locations could be a valuable model for other retailers to consider.

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