Sustainability Report

This article was originally published in July 2022

PCC’s annual Co-op Purposes Report provides insights into several areas of the co-op:  Giving, staff support, and Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (JEDI) efforts. Sustainability is key to PCC’s mission, and the report details our progress in several areas. Read it all here.

Selected sustainability accomplishments include: 

  • Diverting 87% of waste from going to the landfill. That’s more than 6,000 tons of waste that was either repurposed, recycled or composted back into new products. 
  • Diverting just over 9,000 bags of plastic film from the landfill and into recycling. That’s enough to fill close to 300 landfill dumpsters.
  • Eliminating approximately 100,000 single-use plastic water bottles through our expanded bottle ban.
  • Launching cork recycling at our Green Lake Village and Redmond locations through a partnership with Ridwell.
  • Our Bellevue and West Seattle locations joined the Ballard store in achieving Living Building Challenge Petal Certification, the world’s most rigorous green building standard. (Three stores are also LEED-certified—Redmond, Edmonds and Burien.)
  • Achieving carbon negative store operations, which means we removed more carbon from the atmosphere than what we contributed through our store operations. 
  • For the fourth year in a row, we achieved 100% renewable energy.
  • Reducing energy use per square foot by 19%. 
  • Reducing water use per square foot by 26%. 

Also in this issue

The local farmer who turned trash into a farm-saving treasure

Jason Weston is a legend. He’s “The Planet Jr. Guy,” the person who recognized the value in a vintage tractor from generations past.

PCC grants support creative, essential food programs

PCC's Food Access Grants will help nonprofit organizations around the region provide nutritious food to those who need it, from schoolchildren to elders, from innovative new farmers markets to treasured old community centers.

New research on whole grains and health

Whole grains are widely associated with decreased risk for several chronic diseases. New research sheds some light on the mechanisms behind those health benefits.