At Pete Pappas & Sons, we have always seen sustainability as an opportunity for innovation within our operations to increase efficiencies and lessen environmental impacts. In 2018 we began initiatives in recycling, conserving energy, and using less water throughout our operations. We also sought to reduce our landfill usage and strived to be good stewards of our community.
In 2020 we partnered with the Howard County Work Green Program, the Maryland Green Registry, and the Maryland Environmental Service – which are important organizations focused on sustainability and the environment in the state of Maryland. In addition to these programs, we are also certified USDA Organic by the Maryland Department of Agriculture.
In 2022, we became members of the Food Waste 2030 Champions programs of the USDA and EPA. We joined 40 nationwide food companies with a commitment to reporting on and reducing food waste by 50% nationally by the year 2030.
Now, in 2022, we are working towards these Green Goals:
1. Sustainable Packaging Initiative
2. Remaining a Minimal-Waste Facility
3. Emphasizing Organic Agriculture
4. Furthering our Green Business
5. Thinking Globally and Acting Locally
Our 2022 Sustainable Packaging Initiative includes the goal of offering our products in exclusively compostable or recyclable packaging by the end of this year and combatting the packaging waste known in our industry.
This initiative will remove millions of pieces of Styrofoam from the lifecycle of our products each year and prevents them from spending a lifetime in a landfill. Our Pete's Garden brand (right) showcases "Compostable Tray” directly on the label, which assures consumers of a healthy and sustainable purchase option for themselves and for the environment.
We have incorporated these packaging options into both of our premium in-house labels, Patricia Brand, and Pete's Garden Organics.
We strive to keep Pete Pappas & Sons a "Minimal-Waste Facility". This means we minimize the amount of waste we contribute to landfills from our day-to-day operations. To accomplish this, we have honed our skills and created an extensive food-waste diversion program. We have also successfully applied the 3 R’s (reduce, reuse, recycle) within our daily operations.
Our measures of success:
With a "Zero Food-Waste Goal" we have a 3 part process to:
With a "Minimal-Waste Goal", we:
We put an emphasis on organic produce in our business in many ways, because we believe organics are good for us to eat and better for the environment.
Emphasizing organics means that we:
In 2020, we partnered with 3 organizations including Work Green Howard County, the Maryland Green Registry, and the Maryland Environmental Service. Our work with these organizations exemplifies our efforts as leaders in green business practices in both Howard County and the great state of Maryland and recognizes our extensive waste diversion measures.
In 2022, we were accepted onto the USDA and EPA Food Waste 2030 Champions List. This shows our commitment to combatting food loss and waste through working with our extensive local nonprofit food donation network, local animal farms and composting companies.
This means:
Thinking globally means lessening the environmental footprint of our operations for the good of the planet. Our previous green goals focus on macro environmental impacts such as developing compostable packaging, eliminating Styrofoam from landfills, minimizing waste from our facilities, and emphasizing organic produce.
Acting locally means considering ways that our business can make a positive impact within our community, county, and state.
Our local focus means that we: