FTSLA News:
~ Meet Us at MOSES & Expo West
~ FTSLA Webinar - Measurement & Reporting
~ Retreat Recap
~ New Website
~ New Resources for Members
~ Thank You 2010 Sponsors
Natural Products Expo West
March 13th
2-3 pm
Conference room at Anaheim Hilton Starbucks
We're holding informational meetings for those interested in learning about FTSLA's mission, membership program, what we offer, benefits for members and member accomplishments.
If you are an organic food business or organization attending either conference, please joins us if you are:
Seeking guidance and support to measure, improve and communicate your sustainability efforts
Looking for likeminded peers to share ideas, address challenges and collaborate on shared initiatives
Interested in helping drive leading-edge sustainability practices across the food trade
We're also holding a member networking meeting at Expo West on 3/13 with the Organic Trade Association. Members will receive an invitation via email.
We invite you to attend the First Responsible Packaging Awards to be held at Expo West on 3/11 at 4 pm, in the Whole Foods "Green Mission" Room, 205B. Please see our website for details.
FTSLA Webinar in March: Measuring and Communicating Sustainability Practices
We're holding a webinar in March on best practices for measuring sustainability performance and communicating your programs with impact and integrity. Look for an announcement soon! Our webinar series will continue in 2010 with a webinar every other month. We're excited to offer these valuable learning opportunities and pleased that webinars to date have been so well received.
Thanks to all members who attended our retreat, and special thanks to those who presented on their sustainability reports. We discussed long-term strategy, focus areas, partnership building, metrics revisions and members' experiences from measurement and reporting. Notes and presentations are online in our member section. FTSLA staff are following up to meet the needs and opportunities shared at the retreat and our follow up survey.
New website!
We've launched an updated, expanded and reorganized website. Please stop by and let us know what you think!
NEW Resources for members
We make it a priority to continue providing new resources that maximize membership value by meeting evolving member needs and keeping up with the dynamic nature of sustainable business. We've just released an updated version of our Toolkit 2, covering Metrics and Reporting, with detailed, step-by-step guidance for each stage of the process and additional resources. This is available in the members' section of our website.
We're now in the process of updating our Member Resources Toolkit 3, compiling the latest tools and resources for measuring, reporting and improving sustainability impact. We've also brought two terrific new interns on board to update current resource guides and develop new ones. Look for intern profiles in our next issue. Next up: we're adding an online member networking forum and an online version of our Member Resources Toolkit, allowing members to access these quickly and efficiently.
Thank you 2010 sponsors!
Many thanks to our 2010 sponsors, highlighted in the left column with their logos. Your support for FTSLA's mission is deeply appreciated and makes a big difference! If you're not a sponsor, we invite you to consider doing so. You can find more information about programs and benefits on our website. We'll be profiling sustainability programs of our Major and Lead sponsors in our E-News, beginning this month with Major sponsor SunOpta, Inc.
SunOpta is committed to environmental stewardship and social responsibility across its business. Corporate-wide sustainability programs include the following:
The United Nations CEO Water Mandate: SunOpta is one of ten founding corporations to endorse the CEO Water Mandate, a call for action to address the emerging global water crisis. Since signing on in July 2007, SunOpta has saved over 300 million gallons of water through conservation. Waste-Water Conversion to Energy: SunOpta extracts fruit solids from waste water at its plant in Buena Park, CA and diverting this to an ethanol producer. SunOpta's oat fiber plant in Cambridge, MN is extracting methane from waste water to power the facility.
Organic Agriculture: SunOpta actively encourages famers world-wide to convert to organic production and supports them through the three year transition to organic.
Carbon Footprint and Facility Programs: SunOpta tracks its carbon footprint at all 74 facilities, where environmental teams are implementing energy conservation and waste reduction programs.
Member News
Welcome to new member The Wedge/Co-op Partners, a natural foods co-op in Minneapolis, MN! They co-founded the Midwest Food Connection K-8 educational program, opened Co-op Partners Warehouse (organic produce distributor), purchased Gardens of Eagan organic farm and established the Organic Field School, providing education and research to farmers and the public. Sustainability at the Wedge reflects its social awareness, deep commitment to the environment, transparency and accountability. They joined FTSLA to gain perspective from industry and peers, and are developing their first report.
GloryBee has composted over 2,000 lbs of material since it implemented company-wide composting in June 2009. The company gave the planet a special gift by composting 66 gallons of material at its holiday party, significantly reducing waste.
Nature's Pathmade the news for launching a sustainability campaign that boosted sales 33%.
Straus Family Creamery is trialing recyclable, compostable milk packaging, made of paperboard with a poly-based insert for the milk. The trial will start with Whole Foods, guiding next steps for the program.
United Natural Foodsgained media attention for energy efficiency efforts at its New Hampshire distribution center that ranked it in the top 25% for energy efficiency compared to similar facilities.
e USDA National Organic Program released the final Access to Pasture Rule for organic livestock on farms. It requires a minimum of 120 days of grazing with 30% of feed coming from pasture during that time, and access to pasture during the finish feeding period. USDA has extended the comment period for additional rules related to finish feeding of livestock.
GreenBiz.com recently released its State of Green Business Report, summarizing key issues, trends and best practices across the broader industry.
Companies are starting to report on their "forest footprint," disclosing their business' impact on forests. A recent report shares methods, findings and ways to improve impact.
For updates on sustainability news and resources, and FTSLA member accomplishments, follow our twitter feed.
Contact Info
Natalie Reitman-White, Executive Director
541.852.0745 or info@ftsla.org
We're now in the process of updating our Member Resources Toolkit 3, compiling the latest tools and resources for measuring, reporting and improving sustainability impact. We've also brought two terrific new interns on board to update current resource guides and develop new ones. Look for intern profiles in our next issue. Next up: we're adding an online member networking forum and an online version of our Member Resources Toolkit, allowing members to access these quickly and efficiently.