Sustainability & the Environment

At Pete Pappas & Sons, we’ve always seen sustainability as the opportunity for innovation within our building, operations, and their impacts. We applied strategies on how to recycle, conserve energy and use less water throughout our buildings. We also sought to reduce our landfill usage and strived to be good neighbors in the community.

Then, we became certified USDA Organic by the MD Dept of Agriculture and joined 3 important green programs in the state of Maryland. We became members of the Howard County Work Green program, the Maryland Green Registry and the Maryland Environmental Service. 

Now, we’ve continued our efforts by working towards these four “Green Goals”:

1. Becoming a Zero-Waste Facility by 2021
2. Putting an Emphasis on Organics
3. Furthering our Green Business Efforts
4. Focusing on “Thinking Globally and Acting Locally”

A zero-waste goal means that we strive to create zero trash to send to landfills in our day-to-day operations. We have partnered with Rubicon Global and applied the 3 R’s (reduce, reuse, recycle) to divert all of our facility waste through an extensive recycling and compost plan, instead of contributing to landfills.

With a Zero Waste Goal We Have Implemented…

• A 6-Step Recycling and Composting System by partnering with Rubicon Global who have trained all of our employees on how to either reuse, recycle or compost all of our building waste materials.
• A composting protocol that delivers all of our organic food matter locally to create both compost and animal feed
• A sustainable packaging initiative for both our in-house brands and private labeling
• The continued use of 100% recyclable materials including paper, cardboard boxes and plastic clamshells

We know organics are good for us to eat, and better for the environment. We put an emphasis on organics in our business by becoming USDA Organic Certified in two ways: through what we grow on our farm, Smoky Mountain Family Farms, and what we pack and sell at our warehouse. We make it easy for our customers to stock USDA organic products from us, and our packaging encourages everyone to eat organic!

With An Emphasis on Organics We…

• Maintain a USDA Organic certification at headquarters and our farm
• Sell organic products, which reduces the overall environmental impacts of the farming and growing stages of our products
• Trademarked our own in-house USDA Certified Organic brand, Pete’s Garden
• Are always expanding our organic produce offerings, including our Pete’s Garden Organic brand, across different commodities and packaging options

In joining Work Green Howard County, Maryland Green Registry and Maryland Environmental Service Programs, We…

• Are certified for our extensive recycling efforts
• Have diverted significant amounts of trash through composting with the MD Environmental Service
• Are certified as a Maryland green business
• Celebrate the difference that implementing these green programs have had on our business
• Are leaders in green innovations and programs in both Howard county and the great state of Maryland
• Look to lessen our environmental footprint
• Take pride in our organic programs
• Always strive to innovate and implement cutting-edge programs

Lessening the environmental burden of our operations is at the forefront of what we do. This is taking a global approach, for the health of the Earth as a whole. But, here are some things that what we do locally so that our business can make a positive impact within our neighborhood, county, state and region.

To Make a Positive Impact Locally We…

• Boost the local economy by creating jobs and bringing business opportunities to the area
• Partner with local growers and farms to promote our local agriculture
• Support local composting initiatives through the Maryland Environmental Service with the use of our own organic food matter to create compost and animal feed for local farms
• Use local businesses within our day-to-day operations to help them grow with us
• Donate to local food banks