Green Retailing Memo: Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market USA launches New 'Green' Initiatives For Earth Day and Beyond

Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market has just announced two new Earth Day 2008-related environmental retailing initiatives in addition to its previous free "bags for life" reusable shopping bag giveaway which we reported on last week.

Tomorrow on Earth Day, Fresh & Easy will bag all customers' grocery orders for the day at its 61 small-format, convenience-oriented grocery stores in Southern California, Arizona and Nevada in free, reusable grocery bags which the retailer calls "bags for life."

The bags are free for life because Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market will replace the bags if they are damaged for life. That's for the life of the consumer we believe.

The "bags for life," which are slightly larger and more durable than single-use plastic carrier bags, are made from recycled materials (we don't know if 100%) and 100% recyclable when worn out.

The plastic "bags for life" retail everyday in Fresh & Easy stores for 20 cents each. The grocery chain also sells canvas reusable shopping bags for $2.50 each.

New Earth Day 2008 initiative: Green building web page

Tomorrow on Earth Day, Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market plans to launch a new web page dedicated to the retailer's various green building initiatives, according to a company spokesperson.

Among the features of the green building web site will be highlights of Fresh & Easy's green building goals and practices, along with a "real time" "green" energy meter from its 500,000 square foot solar panel installation on the roof of the grocery chain's 850,000 square foot distribution center in Riverside, California.

The website energy meter will show how much power the distribution center is generating and using from renewable solar energy in "real time." According to a Fresh & Easy spokesperson, the facilities solar panel array generates about 30% of the distribution center's power needs at present.

Check out the new website tomorrow and you can monitor how much power the solar installation is providing to the mega-Riverside distribution center yourself. http://www.freshandeasy.com/greenbuilding

New Earth Day 2008 Initiative: North America Climate Registry

Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market USA also is announcing it has joined The Climate Registry (TCR), which is an organization that builds on and expands the climate and greenhouse gas measurement and accounting work of the California Climate Action Registry (CCAR). CCAR is a voluntary greenhouse gas reporting organization of which Fresh & Easy is currently a member of.

TCR is an expansion of the California organization's effort. It extends a common carbon footprint reporting standard across North America. Numerous North American businesses are joining TCR as part of their corporate environmental initiatives.

In announcing Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market's Earth Day 2008 initiatives, company CEO Tim Mason said, "We all have a responsibility to put thought into our impact on the environment. At Fresh & Easy, we take this responsibility seriously, and strive to be good stewards of the environment. Collectively, we can all make a big difference."

Earlier this year, Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market joined the U.S.-based Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) organization. LEED, also known as the U.S. Green Building Council, is a nonprofit third-party certification program and the nationally excepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high performance "green" buildings. Learn more about LEED here.