CONGRATULATIONS

Wolfville Farmers’ Market wins Mobius Award for zero waste.

The Wolfville Farmers’ Market recently won this year’s Mobius Award for Community Project of the Year.

The nod from Divert Nova Scotia was the result of the market’s successful Zero Waste program, which is popular with consumers and good for the environment.

The market encourages all shoppers to use its dishes – plates, bowls, mugs and cutlery – as they purchase food, or to bring their own thermoses and water bottles in lieu of disposable containers.

Manager Kelly Marie Redcliffe told the award dinner on Oct. 30 that the program also encompasses other projects like one sorting station, no bags and community partners.

She noted the market went from producing 22 bags of garbage a week to one. Redcliffe said recognition also goes to Acadia University students and the L’Arche Homefires core members for their commitment to zero waste.

That kind of commitment on the part of the 65 farmers and producers, along with a community that is sustainability-minded, she added, “can actually make a difference.”

Among the previous award winners have been: 14 Wing

Greenwood, the Wong International Centre, Oaklawn Farm Zoo and the Valley Waste Management Authority.

According to regional coordinator Andrew Garrett, also nominated this year were Eden Valley Poultry of Berwick and Karen Jenner of Black Rock, who collects ocean litter.

British grocer Andrew Thornton was the keynote speaker at the award dinner.

He is the owner of Thornton’s Budgens (a supermarket in North London, UK) and the founder of Heart in Business Limited.

Thornton said after some personal turmoil his purpose in life is to put the Heart back into Business. He said his aim is to encourage the shift from an obsession with profit, toward a business model where people and the planet are put first.

These principles have been successfully applied to Thornton’s Budgens, which was one of the first supermarkets in the world to introduce completely plastic-free zones throughout the store.

In just 10 weeks, he said, the supermarket eliminated the use of plastic packaging for nearly 2,000 products and its goal is to be virtually plastic free in three years. The store has already achieved its target of sending zero food waste to landfill.

Not only that but the move to reduce plastic resulted in a four per cent rise in weekly sales.

Thornton first introduced 1,700 plastic-free products at his store in London’s Belsize Park. Working with charity A Plastic Planet, he developed a number of plastic-free zones designed to make it easy for his customers to go plastic free.

He used a range of innovative packaging materials, including beechwood nets, pulp, paper, metal, glass, cellulose and cardboard. The move attracted widespread publicity at home and abroad.

“Our single goal is to ignite and inspire the world to turn off the plastic tap. We believe that being a business that is a force for good in society means looking after our employees, our customers, our community, our suppliers and the environment. People want to shop plastic free,” said Thornton.

The Sobeys grocery chain sponsored Thornton’s talk and has committed to making its produce department plastic free in all 1,600 shops.