We love Earth Week! Through our Earth Week programs, we work to engage and educate our customers, communities and associates, all while celebrating and promoting environmental stewardship. At SpartanNash, we are committed to corporate responsibility, including environmental sustainability and social responsibility — and Earth Week is one of our signature programs within that commitment. To learn more about all of our corporate responsibility programs and accomplishments, check out our Corporate Responsibility report.
Below are just a few of the many activities that place during Earth Week 2017 to celebrate all things Mother Earth!
Goodwill donation drives
We offered Earth Week donation drives at 80 of our corporate-owned grocery stores in partnership with nine Goodwill organizations across five states (North Dakota, Michigan, Minnesota, South Dakota and Wisconsin). On Saturday, April 22 and Sunday, April 23, anyone that dropped off a donation at their local Goodwill organization — located in the same community as our participating stores — received a coupon for $10 off a $25 or more purchase at our SpartanNash stores.
Since 2011, our associates and customers have diverted more than 211,500 pounds of materials from landfills, and Goodwill has converted these donations into approximately 45,335 hours of workforce redevelopment training for people in the communities we serve.
Reusable Bag Design Contest
After encouraging store guests, associates and communities to submit designs that represent local state pride in Nebraska, North Dakota and Michigan, we invited the public to vote for which designs should win our Reusable Bag Design Contest.
Congratulations to Laurel Allen (Nebraska), Janelle Lomsdal (Minnesota) and Alivia Murphy (Michigan), whose winning designs will be printed on reusable grocery bags that will be sold in our corporate-owned stores located in those states.
Earth Week prize sweepstakes
In celebration of Earth Week, we also treated 20 of our customers to a gift bag full of environmentally friendly products valued at $100! These environmentally friendly products are available for purchase in our stores and included some Full Circle products, Kashi Dark Cocoa Karma cereal and a coupon for a free MorningStar Farms Veggie Foods product.
Complimentary local beer tastings
We know our store guests have a growing appetite for locally sourced items, including great craft beers. As a part of our Earth Week celebrations, 11 of our Michigan retail stores and six of our greater Omaha retail stores offered FREE local beer tastings.
Earth Week Bakery Contest
Just in time for Easter, we invited our bakeries to participate in an Earth-themed bakery contest, displaying their creative — and delicious — homages to the environment. Congratulations to our Cascade D&W Fresh Market in Grand Rapids, Mich., which was crowned the winning bakery for the second consecutive year!
Check out the awesome designs from this year’s top five bakeries.
Earth Day Omaha
In 2017, our 14 Family Fare stores in the greater Omaha area were proud sponsors of Earth Day Omaha, a fun-filled day of events that took place at Elmwood Park on Saturday, April 22 and featured music performances, health and wellness activities, kids’ events and demonstrations on rain barrels, worm composting, tree plantings and more. The Earth Day Omaha Coalition is dedicated to increasing public awareness of environmental issues through annual Earth Day events and activities.
In addition, SpartanNash hosted our own Earth Day Extravaganza at the Bellevue Family Fare (located at 1510 Harlan Drive) on Saturday, April 29. At this event, local community organizations that focus on sustainability hosted booths, where store guests could learn more about taking care of our planet. Green Bellevue, Papillion Sanitation and UNL Extension were onsite, and customers who visited all three booths were entered into a drawing for one of five $10 gift cards.
Free seeds giveaway
Each of our more than 150 grocery stores also passed out FREE packets of seeds to the first 50 customers on Saturday, April 22.
Stay tuned to see what we have in store for Earth Day 2018!
