We are taking stock of climate action in 2020 and what's ahead for the industry through a series of interviews with the 2020 National Co+op Grocers Climate Collaborative Awards winners. This week we sat down with Kurt Baehmann, Sustainability Manager at Outpost Natural Foods, winner of the 2020 Outstanding Company Award. (View our previous interview with Numi Organic Tea).

In anticipation of the 2020 National Co+op Grocers Climate Collaborative Awards, we're talking with the leaders of our 2019 award-winning companies to learn a little bit more about what drives their climate leadership.

Our first interview is with Danielle Vogel, founder of Glen's Garden Market, winner of the 2019 Outstanding Company Award. You can read the full article here. 

The Climate Collaborative is thrilled to release a new 10-step Food Waste Reduction Toolkit and self-assessment tool, both geared at supporting retailers in reducing their food waste impacts.

If the United States went shopping in your store, it would leave with five bags, drop two in the parking lot, and leave them there. This may seem crazy, but as a country, we leave a full 40 percent of our food uneaten. And it’s not just food going in the trash: Up to about one-fifth of U.S. cropland, fertilizers, and agricultural water go towards growing food that’s ultimately wasted. Food waste is responsible for at least 2.6 percent of all U.S. greenhouse gas emissions (equivalent to more than that of 37 million cars), and wasting less food was ranked third of 100 solutions to climate change by Project Drawdown.

The latest in our series of ReCAP meetings, aimed at supporting retailers in overcoming challenges to climate action, focused on how retailers can reduce the emissions of the buildings they operate in through direct actions and landlord engagement. 

We were lucky to have CC partner IMT join for the webinar. If you missed it, I encourage you to watch the recording here.

Nominations for the 2019 National Co+op Grocers Climate Collaborative Awards are open now through November 30. In anticipation of next year's awards, we're talking with the leaders of our 2018 award-winning companies to learn a little bit more about what drives their climate leadership.

Our second interview is with Melissa Elkins, Sustainability Coordinator for Community Food Co-op, winner of the 2018 Outstanding Company Award (View our previous interview with Lotus Foods here).

We are excited to announce the rollout of a new Climate Collaborative action group, Retailer Climate Action Progress (ReCAP) Community, to support retailers who want to deepen and expand their climate action efforts. Through virtual monthly gatherings, we will help natural products retailers explore their unique climate challenges and opportunities and create new pathways to meaningful action.