Environmental Sustainability

We care about our environment! CF Fresh has taken steps to lessen the impact on the earth, from using biodegradable plastic in our packaging to conserving electricity in our offices. We recognize that there is still much work to be done to reach a sustainable level of resource consumption within our operations, and we will continue to work to reduce our environmental impact for the future.

• In August 2007 we installed a 25 kW solar power (photovoltaic) system on the roof of our Washington office. The grid-tied system is expected to supply approximately 70% of our electricity needs and reduce our CO2 emissions by 53,156 pounds (24 metric tons) per year. To learn more about CF Fresh's solar project, click here.



• All Viva Tierra and Pure Delight brand apple bags are made with EPI degradable plastic.



• We streamline our logistics operations to ensure that our produce items are delivered with the minimum possible "food miles" on them. We also make certain that trucks are fully loaded to make the most of our transportation mileage. Just like carpooling, this eliminates wasted fuel and helps reduce vehicle congestion on our roads.



• We employ energy efficient fluorescent lighting throughout our office. Most of our printers, computers, copy machines and other office appliances power down automatically when not in use. Only the fax machines & servers are left on at night.



• We have replaced most computer monitors with LCD flat screens, reducing energy consumption by 85% for each monitor replaced. As the few remaining CRT monitors in use age and/or break, they will also be replaced with LCDs.



• Our webhost, DreamHost, is carbon-neutral. Click here for an article describing their commitment to offsetting their environmental footprint.



• We continually strive to reduce the amount of paper used in our offices by streamlining processes, eliminating duplication, encouraging the use of e-mail and enabling employees to fax directly from their computers.



• In 2007 we redirected our main incoming fax line from the traditional paper-printing fax machine to a new system which receives the documents electronically as PDF files. The majority of our incoming faxes are now received, processed and archived entirely electronically. This upgrade alone saves approximately 100 sheets of paper every day.



• We collect paper, cardboard, glass and aluminum for recycling. Some office paper waste is reused to make scratch pads. Manila file folders are used at least twice (turned inside out and relabeled) before being recycled.



• We use cloth towels in our bathrooms and kitchen.



• We collect and compost all our kitchen waste on-site at our main office. This includes our daily production of spent coffee grounds. We brew only fair-trade, shade grown, certified organic coffee, and we use real ceramic mugs, not disposable cups.



• We have installed retractable screen doors on all our entrances, which allows for natural ventilation of the office without letting in flying insect pests. In our moderate Pacific Northwest climate, this allows us to keep the office naturally cool and comfortable for most of the year. Air conditioning is only necessary in the hottest summer months (and of course we close the doors when it is in use).



• Several employees are able to work from home at least part time, thus reducing commuter trips. Carpooling is also encouraged, and employees have the flexibility to revise their schedules to make ride sharing work for them.

• Working on a full energy audit of our office, focusing on improving the energy efficiency of our lighting, heating & cooling systems. Preliminary estimates show that replacing the ballasts in our older fluorescent fixtures would reduce our electricity use by 9500 kWh per year.



• Looking into installing some additional windows in some parts of the building in order to take advantage of natural light, reducing our need for electric lights even further.



• Investigating switching our plastic packaging materials, such as apple bags and cherry clamshells, to NatureWorks^TM PLA corn-based plastic. This new material is made 100% from corn and is compostable, degrading completely in under 50 days.



• Incorporating recycled paper content into our cardboard boxes and other paper packing materials whenever possible. We are also looking into using soy-based inks to print our box labels.