October 1, 2010
Welcome to Ocean Mist Farms’ Environmental Stewardship section! Here, you will find up to date information about our efforts to grow healthy, delicious and sustainable crops. Since this is our first post, let me begin by reviewing our past accomplishments:
Energy Retrofit – All of our cooling, processing and corporate facilities were upgraded in 2008 with highly efficient, energy saving, state of the art light fixtures. This change alone has reduced our carbon dioxide emissions by 145 tons per year.
Baler – We bale and recycle all of our packaging materials. This effort alone diverts an average of 200 tons of solid waste from the landfill annually.
Recycling Initiative – Our ongoing recycling initiative has reduced our waste generation by 30 percent between 2009 and 2010.
Waxless cartons – We co-developed a ClimaProof® carton that is a waxless, recyclable carton and a new alternative to the traditional industry standard of a waxed carton for hydro-cooled or iced vegetable commodities: Celery, Broccoli and Romaine Lettuce. The ClimaProof® carton is encapsulated in a thin plastic film, which protects the corrugated surface from moisture. ClimaProof® cartons reduce the carbon footprint throughout the retail supply chain. ClimaProof® cartons are recyclable and can be placed by end users in regular corrugated container bails, which minimizes the amount of paper that goes into landfills and increases grocers’ recycling revenues. Click here to learn more.
Elkhorn Slough Foundation – We’ve partnered with our neighbor, The Elkhorn Slough Foundation, to help restore and maintain a healthy, native, wetland environment home to many plant and animal species. The Elkhorn Slough winds seven miles inland from the coast in the center of the beautiful Monterey Bay. Harboring the largest tract of tidal salt marsh in California outside of San Francisco Bay, this biologically rich wetland provides habitat for a diversity of resident and migratory birds, plants, marine mammals and fish, and has been identified as a Globally Important Bird Area by the American Birding Conservancy.
Castroville Seawater Intrusion Project (CSIP) – Ocean Mist Farms was one of the driving forces behind the development and evaluation of the CSIP Project in the late '80s and early '90s. The CSIP project has since served as a model, locally and worldwide. CSIP was completed in 1998 as a system to distribute water for agricultural use in an effort to slow down seawater intrusion into fresh water aquifers underground.
Our future goals are to continue to find new ways, big and small, to conserve our natural resources. This includes expanding our bailing program to all our facilities, continued research on our farms to find new ways to conserve water and improve water quality, and working with experts to benchmark current efforts and set concrete, measurable goals for the future.
Sincerely,
Ocean Mist Farms Environmental Stewardship and Food Safety Manager
