AUSTIN, Texas (March 14, 2007) Whole Foods Market®, the world's leading natural and organic foods supermarket and America's first national certified organic grocer, today announced that it has created a “diet” plan not for the waist but rather for “waste” to help shoppers reduce their carbon footprint on planet Earth. The first ever Whole Earth Weigh-In: 30 Ways in 30 Days program takes place during April, which is “Earth Month.”
“With each of us on average creating 94 pounds of carbon dioxide daily, it is more important than ever to minimize our individual contributions to global warming,” said Michael Besancon, Southern Pacific regional president and Green Mission task force leader for Whole Foods Market. “Whole Foods Market is challenging shoppers to reduce their carbon dioxide emissions and make some real changes to positively affect climate change.”
The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change recently released conclusive evidence that global warming is indeed happening primarily as a result of the atmosphere being “overweight” with greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide.
Beginning April 1st, Whole Foods Market shoppers will have the chance to make a personal pledge online to reduce their carbon footprint, calculate their own carbon emissions, and take active steps toward reducing the country's rapidly expanding carbon footprint via the website www.wholefoodsmarket.com. Shoppers can also find a user-friendly Weigh-In guide book complete with 30 Eco-Action tips in Whole Foods Market stores throughout April. A few examples include:
- Sun Power: Adjust your window blinds to reduce energy used for heating and cooling.
- Quench with Respect: 80 percent of the 25 billion single-serving plastic bottles Americans use each year end up in landfills. Recycle!
- Turn off Electronics: Simply turning off your TV, DVD player, stereo and computer when you're not using them will save thousands of pounds of carbon dioxide a year.
- Cut Back on Water Usage: In the U.S., 27 percent of our water is used for bathing. Instead of taking a bath, take a quick shower and use a water-conserving showerhead, which can save 350 pounds of CO2 a year.
“Our goal with this initiative is to become more aware of what we, as tenants of the planet, contribute to global warming,” said Besancon. “With the online calculator and simple green tips that support a healthy planet, shoppers will be equipped to prompt lifestyle changes now that can promote cooling our planet for years to come.”Additionally, Whole Foods Market has teamed up with Green Mountain Energy Company, The nation's leading retailer of cleaner electricity and carbon offsets, for The Whole Earth Weigh-In to provide an easy-to-use calculator that will also track an individual's driving, electricity, natural gas usage, consumption and air. Those Weighing-In will also be provided with suggestions that can show an immediate reduction to their current carbon footprint.
To further inspire shoppers to decrease their “weight,” the Whole Earth Weigh-In guide book gives shoppers the opportunity to “reduce with their dollars” by using coupons throughout April from some of Whole Foods Market's greenest vendor partners committed to CO2 reduction. They include:
- Organic Valley milk, eggs & butter
- Stonyfield Farm yogurt and energy drink
- Annie's Naturals salad dressing
- Annie Chun's noodle bowls
- Quorn meat-free entrées
- Green & Black's chocolate
- Clif energy bars
- Zia skincare
- Dr. Bronner's bar soap
- Avalon Organics bodycare
- New Chapter nutritional supplements
- Enzymatic Therapy nutritional supplements
- Seventh Generation household cleaners & paper goods
- Recycline tableware
- Ecover household cleaners
- Allegro Coffee organic coffee
- Whole Foods Market 365 Everyday Value™ disposable bowls
- Whole Foods Market 365 Everyday Value™ bodycare and baby products
With more than 190 stores nationwide, in Canada and the UK, Whole Foods Market's WHOLE EARTH WEIGH-IN underscores its commitment as one of the country's leading change agents. The Company's internal Green Mission team supports wise environmental practices and decision making within the stores that positively impact the health of the planet, its people and its resources.
Whole Foods Market has been a source for green empowerment since its inception more than 25 years ago. In 2006, it was awarded the “Green Power Partner of the Year Award” by the EPA for its environmental achievements. Whole Foods Market is the only FORTUNE 500 Company to offset 100 percent of its energy use in all of its stores, facilities and offices in the U.S. and Canada with wind energy credits.
Besancon adds: “Together with our shoppers 'weighing in' at each Whole Foods Market store around the country, we hope to ensure worldwide carbon dioxide reduction through a collective combination of efforts, not just in the month of April, but everyday.”
The Whole Earth Weigh-In officially launches in Whole Foods Market stores in the U.S. with the opening of the Company's 195th store in Manhattan at Bowery and Houston Streets on March 29, 2007.
