Each year, Earth Day — April 22 — marks the anniversary of the birth of an environmental initiative that started in 1970.
Society has come a long way from the 1970s, when Americans used leaded gas to fill their V8 engines. Today, the public has a greater interest in how products are made, what they are made from, where they are made, who made them and under what conditions they were made. Ninety percent of consumers say they expect businesses to be socially and environmentally responsible. And the expectation for transparency in business practices is ever increasing. Our customers want us to care, and they want to know we care.
At Publix, we celebrate Earth Day every day by meeting the needs of today’s shoppers while embracing sustainable practices for future generations. To share our commitment to social and environmental responsibility, we recently revamped our sustainability website, www.publix.com/sustainability. The site focuses on the work we do to take care of our associates, our communities and our planet.
We’ve also partnered with the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership (SFP) to provide insight into the seafood we offer, including where and how it’s sourced. As Earth Day approaches, Publix will donate $1 (up to $40,000) to SFP for every purchase of fresh snapper fillets from March 30 – April 23. Over the last four years, we have donated $160,000 toSFP to support various Fishery Improvement Projects.
“Seafood sustainability is becoming more important to our customers, and we want to provide them with as much information as possible,” said Category Manager Guy Pizzuti. “By making this information readily available and explaining the fishing methods and details of each fishery, our customers can make more informed decisions when shopping with us.”
Publix’s donation will help monitor the sustainability of snapper and grouper stocks in North, Central and South America, pushing for necessary improvements at fisheries.
In addition to seafood sustainability, we save more than 50 million paper and plastic grocery bags per month. Thanks to associate training and more customers making the switch to reusable bags, the number of paper and plastic bags we save continues to grow.
And finally, taking care of the planet means taking care of the people on it. By establishing a perishable recovery program and partnering with Feeding America and its affiliates, we’re able to donate unsalable yet still wholesome foods to feed families throughout our different communities. We have donated more than 250 million pounds of food, which equals over 208 million meals, to the Feeding America network.
Our objective continues today — to make smarter choices to enrich the lives of our associates, communities and planet. Do your part by being informed and making decisions that will advance our mission to be involved as responsible citizens in our communities.
Sources: earthday.org, sustainablefish.org
Learn more about how Publix is committed to social and environmental responsibility at www.publix.com/sustainability.
