Safeway has unveiled it's first solar-powered grocery store, and upon further investigation into this I found out Safeway is quite the eco-warrior! What- who knew!
I've always associated Safeway as such an old-fashion kind of grocery store, kind of like the Piggly Wiggly in that Driving Miss Daisy movie, the only people who shop there are those who haven't heard of Trader Joe's or who don't live within a reasonable distance of Whole Foods. So what's left is your Grandma's grocery store: Safeway!
But I am impressed (and I don't impress easily) to find out Safeway has been doing all kinds of stuff in order to improve the company's energy efficiency. First they have installed solar panels atop a lifestyle store in Dublin, CA (not too far from me), and plan to extend this program to other stores. The entire Dublin store uses renewable energy, even the on-site retail fuel station uses wind power, plus a bunch of other stuff in the store (e.g. LEDs, state of the art refrigeration, etc....)
Safeway also recycles 500,000 tons of plastic, cardboard, metal and wood! Who knew!! They also belong to California's Climate Action Registry, the official CA registry for greenhouse gas emission reduction. I'm really starting to like Safeway now. I had no idea a corporate giant (it's a Fortune 100 company) like Safeway cared about the environment. They do have an organic section but I thought it was just to appease the masses not because they really cared. I stand corrected!
I'm going to have to tell my mom I now approve of her shopping there. I sit on the board for my neighborhood's citizen committee and we are currently looking for a grocery store for a HUGE site that is being developed. I was so vehemently against bringing in a chain like Albertson's (which is now back to Lucky's....make up your mind people), I wanted a local chain for this great opportunity or at least a Whole Foods/Wild Oats. I shall now humbly suggest to the other committee members that perhaps they were right Safeway is a goode way to go!
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