![\"Whole](\"https:\/\/sduptownnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/web-IMG_0173-300x175.jpg\" "\\"web")
Zero Waste Council founder and Executive Director Stephanie Barger presented Whole Foods Market Marketing Supervisor Ray Kau with the honor, highlighting ways the retail store was making strides to reduce their carbon footprint.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey have diverted over 90 percent of their waste from landfill, incineration and the environment by reducing, reusing and recycling,\u201d Barger said, calling the store a leader in the region.<\/p>\n
The store received the bronze level requirement for the Zero Waste certification, and is now eligible to pursue the platinum, or top level.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are thrilled to launch the new certification program and to verify the achievements of Whole Foods Market,\u201d Barger said in a press release. \u201cOur goal is not only to provide credibility to Zero Waste businesses, but also to offer the resources needed to create value and save money.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Zero Waste Business Council was formed in 2012 to \u201ceducate, inform and document\u201d businesses in environmental best practices that support a healthy and sustainable community. \u201cImplementing Zero Waste will eliminate all discharges to land, water or air that are a threat to planetary, human animal or planet health,\u201d representatives said.<\/p>\n
Renee Robertson of the San Diego Environmental Service Department and Nancy Moors, publisher of hillquest.com, were also on hand at the ceremony to show their support.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe see this as a journey and we still have a ways to go,\u201d Kau said. \u201cWe\u2019re off to a good start, and with your help we\u2019ll make it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The presentation comes at the end of several months of construction at the store, which Kau said would be complete within the week. The renovation is the largest in the location\u2019s 16-year history. Kau said they remained focused on zero-waste practices during the entire renovation.<\/p>\n
Whole Foods Market was the first to receive the Zero Waste award, helping to launch the Zero Waste business certification program nationwide. The goal of the program is to encourage and reward businesses to \u201cdivert all end-use material\u201d from landfills. The standards are set by the Zero Waste International Alliance.<\/p>\n
The Zero Waste Council also offers businesses guidance and tools to help achieve the environmental goals, and Barger said the nonprofit organizes workshops and peer-to-peer networking for them to share ideas in reducing waste.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe really try to get out and work with our partners \u2026 to really try to mobilize the effort and break down the barriers,\u201d she said. \u201cOur goal is to have all businesses and communities get to zero waste.\u201d<\/p>\n
Three Whole Foods Market stores in the area, including the Hillcrest location, received the new certifications after excelling in six key areas:<\/p>\n
\u2022 Committing to zero waste with over 90 percent diversion,<\/p>\n
\u2022 Utilizing locally grown, organic food including donating excess to organizations in need,<\/p>\n
\u2022 Re-sorting trash, recycle and compost bins by team members,<\/p>\n
\u2022 Separating recyclable materials,<\/p>\n
\u2022 Purchasing materials with a high-recycle content and<\/p>\n
\u2022 Encouraging customers to bring renewable bags.<\/p>\n \u201cWhole Foods Market is proud to receive the U.S. Zero Waste Business Council\u2019s first Zero Waste certification,\u201d Dave Sanders, Whole Foods Market La Jolla team leader, said in the release. \u201cWe are proud to partner with [the Zero Waste Council] and help to further its work helping communities become more healthy and sustainable, a value which our company fully supports and is passionate about.\u201d<\/p>\n Part of the chain\u2019s success, both Kau and Barger said, occurred in the last focus area, where team members were active in promoting customer involvement.<\/p>\n \u201cWhole Foods has a lot more engagement with their customers,\u201d Barger said. \u201cHere it\u2019s very embraced.\u201d<\/p>\n Kau agreed. \u201cI think they\u2019re really aware of what we\u2019re doing. \u2026 They support it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n For more information on the Zero Waste Council visit uszwbc.org.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" After reducing and recycling waste, Hillcrest location given first national business environmental honor By Anthony King | SDUN Editor The Whole Foods Market Hillcrest store received a certification plaque from the San Diego-based United States Zero Waste Business Council at a ceremony held March 7.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":245945,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11555","_seopress_titles_title":"Whole Foods Market receives Zero Waste certification","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11547,11551,11550,11555],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-245944","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","category-news","category-top-stories","category-uptown-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245944","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=245944"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245944\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/245945"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=245944"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=245944"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=245944"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Whole](\"https:\/\/sduptownnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/web-IMG_0166-300x251.jpg\" "\\"web")