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when they left a room.
We put stickers on light switches. We made
posters letting our associates know what this means, what does this equate to, how much can we reduce our electrical consumption, and really made a competition out of it for our folks. “Okay. What can your store do bet- ter over last year? Let’s start looking at energy efficiencies and let’s start making a difference.” And that’s how we got buy-in, involving the associates at every level, and they each had a role to play.
Ken Whitacre: So, do people actually sit around at a table and ask, “What can we do to reduce our energy consumption at each store?” or is it a part of the team process that you dis- seminate downward?
Maria Brous: Both. There are ideas. We have a “Change-It” program that Publix has in place where associates are able to submit their ideas for a variety of things; for sustainability efforts, how to improve work processes, look- ing from all angles. Associates can submit a work-study. There are some cash incentives if we roll out the programs company-wide. Now there is a group in place and a table where we can come and review ideas and initiatives.
Our facilities department is over 600 asso- ciates strong and they each are responsible for the things that we spoke about, whether it’s the lighting, whether it’s the refrigeration, or whether it’s the computer — I mean, the whole landscape, and really, what do we do from that point on?
So, we take ideas big and small. We talk about them, how they affect the different business units, what role everybody plays, everything from the environmental to how this is going to look externally. How do we communicate that? Our marketing folks have a seat at the table. How do we engage, not only our associates, but also our customers, and really break it down?
Ken Whitacre: It sounds like Michael has an easy job then, because everybody’s working
for him!
Michael Hewitt: That’s one way to look at it. Really, it’s a team effort. Maria mentioned the corporate sustainability team, which is a cross-functional team representing every busi- ness unit, operating really at the decision- making level. But we have many other teams that are directly involved in sustainability as well. We have “Green Routine” teams.
We have a team that does nothing but look at ideas that come in and decide which might work, and then elevate those ideas and try to advocate them, implement them and track them, so that we can measure progress. And when things work, we see if we can roll that out across the entire enterprise.
So, it’s not the effort of a half-dozen peo- ple on one team. It’s many teams and it really is every associate that gets involved in the Publix “Green Routine.”
And now, more recently, if you go to Pub- lix.com/sustainability, you can see how we’re trying to take that “Green Routine” that we’ve spent years developing internally, and we’re trying to share that with our customers as well, to help them be more sustainable in their homes.
GREEN ROUTINE
Ken Whitacre: So initially, the “Green Routine” was essentially an internal program that has now branched out.
Michael Hewitt: That’s true. It started as a program for us to look internally to try to do better, which grew out of a culture at Publix that has been there since Day 1. Publix has always been intolerant of waste, and advocates doing the right thing for the community and for its customers and the environment. The “Green Routine” was just a natural progres- sion of that mantra.
So it really started before the word “sus- tainability” became fashionable. It wasn’t until more recent years that the term “sustain- ability” has been applied to what we do. But, we’ve been doing this kind of work for many, many years.
Maria Brous: When we talk about the “Green Routine,” it’s officially tagged, “Get Into the Green Routine” because we want everyone to take an active role in it. So, we talk about “Get Into the Green Routine,” but it was a reduction of more than 500,000 tons of greenhouse gases...
Michael Hewitt: Since 2001.
Maria Brous: Right. That equates to being able to power over 64,000 homes for a year.
Ken Whitacre: And it also equates to thou- sands and thousands of gallons of gas that can be consumed.
Michael Hewitt: It does. I think it’s 903 million kilowatt-hours that we’re approach- ing, and that equates to 500,000 tons of greenhouses gases that have been reduced, and that’s enough to power all those homes for a whole year. We try to take the savings that we’re measuring every day and relate them into terms that people can understand.
Mira Slott: Can you talk more specifically about sustainability measures in the company’s produce department, and provide some exam- ples that our readers could relate to in the pro- duce industry?
Michael Hewitt: Well, we’re always trying to offer more organic products whenever pos- sible. Also, if you look on our Web site, you’ll see information about how we try to make locally grown purchase decisions whenever we can. We try to buy as much as we can locally, keeping in mind that we have customers to service and we work hard to provide them with the produce that they want year-round.
We also have been trying to find a home for as much of our organic waste material as possible. When you run a food retail business, you end up with organic waste. You end up with meat scraps from the meat department, stale bread from the bakery and damaged pro- duce in the produce department. We have for many years sent some of that material for ren- dering and have tried other outlets for that organic waste.
28 PRODUCE BUSINESS • MAY 2009