First Alternative is a leader in the community when it comes to doing business while being mindful of the environment. Below are a few examples of how we do our part to preserve the earth.
*** 2009 WINNER OF THE BENTON CHAMBER COALITION’S STEWARD OF THE PLANET AWARD ***
Organic Products
The Co-op carries thousands of organic products. Supporting organic farming and practices means keeping harmful pesticides and synthetic fertilizers off the land and out of our rivers.
Local Products
We carry over 1200 Local 6 Products. Unlike other states, where the meaning of local is based on a multi-state region, our local 6 program is within Benton county and the 5 surrounding counties. Supporting local businesses means shorter product transportation distances and less fuel burning and, often, less packaging.
Bulk Products
Our extensive bulk department furthers our mission of caring for the planet. The more bulk products we sell, the less packaging we use. We carry over 700 bulk items at our South Store and over 800 bulk items at our North Store!
Recycling Center
We give as much attention to recycling as we do to our products. We provide a recycling center for the community that you cannot find anywhere else in the area. We accept commingled items, wine corks, batteries, and hard and soft plastics free of charge. We also recycling Styrofoam and metal for a small fee to offset our transportation and removal costs.
Solar Panels
Each of our two stores has 6.16 kilowatts of grid-tie solar electric (Photovoltaic) panels in two separate arrays. Both stores combined with the four separate arrays is 12.32 kilowatts of grid-tie Photovoltaic. These systems help us lessen our demand on the electrical grid.
Rainwater Catchment
Our South Store has a rain water catchment system the collects the runoff from our roof. We, in turn, use this water to water our landscaping and plants for sale.
Alternative Transportation
We offer a punch card for walking or biking to the Co-op for customers and staff alike. Once the card is full, it becomes a coupon for $5 off your next grocery bill! In addition to the discount, we collect the filled cards and enter them for a drawing each month for a free bike tune up. Extensive bicycle parking is also available at both of our stores.
Bag Independence
Our Beans for Bags programs offers shoppers for bringing their own bags which turns into $8000 per year that we donate to four owner-voted charitable organizations.
On July 4th, 2009, we began charging 5¢ for new paper bags at the register. We also offer several options for reusable bags for purchase.
Green Building
When we do remodeling and expansion products, we recycle old building materials and buy used ones whenever possible. We use low VOC paint and purchase lumber grown with sustainably harvested practices. We install energy efficient lighting, HVAC systems, on-demand water heaters, and more.
Efficient Compressors
Our coolers are run by compressors on a rack system. The system keeps all the compressors in a line and fires them up only as needed. It runs the minimum amount of compressors to power the coolers, depending on how much they require, rather than running all six, as it was with our old system.
Eco Office and Cleaning Supplies
We use recycled office supplies and our cleaning crew uses green cleaning products. The free pens we provide to the customers are made of 100% recycled plastic. When we have materials printed out-of-house, we request paper with as much recycled content as possible and soy-based inks.
Electric Truck
We run a store transfer between our two store twice daily, as well as a bank run once daily all with our electric vehicle. The power used to charge it comes from renewable energy through Pacific Power’s Blue Sky Program.
Zero Waste Plan
Our kitchen, produce department, break rooms, and public eating areas all have compost and recycling bins. The compost is made available to our customers free of charge. Items that we no longer need we donate to other businesses rather than send them directly to the landfill.
Compostable Deli Containers
We offer compostable to-go containers for our deli customers, helping to reduce the amount of garbage that goes to the landfill.
Bike-Delivered Newsletter
The Thymes, our monthly newsletter, is distributed twice per month by bicycle to businesses and organizations throughout the community.
Sustainable Committees
Since the inception of the Sustainability Coalition, we have participated in Town Hall meetings and have several staff serving the committees to help further local sustainability efforts. The Co-op also sponsors the Annual Local First Breakfasts, held May-July, connecting the community with local businesses.
