I am an ardent Outpost owner for many reasons, but near the top is the collection of environmental policies put into place by the Outpost management and staff. In fact, the WE Energies Summer 2012 newsletter “Energy for Tomorrow” highlighted Outpost as a visionary organization in the field of energy conservation.

Did you know that according to a report prepared by General Manager Pam Mehnert and her staff:

• A change of spotlights at all three Outpost stores to LED lights will save an estimated 11,405 Kilowatts per year. According to Mehnert’s report, “This is the equivalent of the electricity used to power an average two- story home for 13 months”.

• Outpost’s energy is coal-free. All the energy used in our stores is supplied by either wind, water, solar or bio mass sources.

• Our customers/owners have bought 62,497 gallons of water with their own refillable containers in 2012. This has saved 666,634 plastic water bottles from landfill.

• Approximately one store’s entire annual volume of solid waste has been kept out of landfill through a variety of diversion and disposal methods practiced at both the Bay View and State Street stores.

• Outpost has recycled 264 tons of paper and cardboard for one year. The savings from this are significant, including enough oil to provide heat and hot water for 9 homes for a year, tons of virgin wood pulp, enough electricity to again power 9 homes for a year, as well as 2,376 cubic yards of landfill.  (Source:  Waste Management)

We, the customers and owners of Outpost, have recycled a total of 1,209 CFL bulbs through our program with Focus on Energy, thus saving mercury and toxins from entering the environment.

We are bagging the paper bag. Last year, our shoppers re-used 127,600 bags, a greater than 50% increase over the previous year. Our consumption of paper bags is down approximately 40% over the previous year. That’s huge.

As a member of the Outpost Board of Directors, I am extremely proud of Outpost’s environmental stewardship.

 - Nancy Ettenheim