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| Waste Reduction & Pollution Prevention |
From the beginning, New Seasons Market has operated with a strong ethic toward sustainability. A key component to sustainability is a commitment to recycling programs. Here  is just some of the ways we are working with the community to promote recycling, and facilitate collection.
Green Teams:
We have Green Teams in each store, made up of very passionate staff members. Green Teams meet to work on short and long-term projects like improving recycling, creating education through community events, staff training, and waste reduction.
Food Waste & Edible Product Donations:
 One of our top priorities is to reduce our food waste and to donate edible product that is not saleable to those in need. From there, we divert compostable materials such as food waste and paper towels from landfills. NSM has been composting for over six years and we increase our participation every year. The Portland Composts! program rated our participation as the highest possible. In 2008, we composted over 4 million pounds. This represents 14% of the entire metro region’s compost. To learn more about composting, go to oregonmetro.gov.
Internal Recycling:
We have implemented a comprehensive program to try to divert every recyclable material possible. We do this by setting up separate collections, contracting with the appropriate companies or hauling it ourselves, working with Green Teams, and educating our staff. We recycle: 
1) hard plastics,
2) plastic film and bags,
3) cardboard,
4) metal and paper,
5) glass,
6) styrofoam peanuts & block,
7) the gamut of batteries and light
bulbs,
8) all electronics and media such as DVD’s, cell phones, and ink cartridges,
9) lamination scrap and signs, and
10) our Delis’ used cooking oil.
Community Recycling:
We offer recycling at each of our stores for some of the hard-to-recycle items that aren’t picked up curbside such as plastic lids, clamshells and plastic bags.
Rigid plastic
We collect plastic lids and plastic clamshell containers from our customers. Just rinse and drop them in the recycling station in front of each store and we’ll take care of the rest. Please recycle your plastic tubs and plastic bottles (6 oz. or larger) with your paper and metal recycling collection at the curb.
Plastic bags
Plastic bags are not accepted in the residential curb collection. We collect clean plastic bags in the recycling station in front of each store.
Milk Cartons and Aseptic Containers
Milk and aseptic containers are accepted in curbside recycling service in the City of Portland. If you live in Vancouver, try Vancouver Recycling.
Paper Bags
We encourage you to reuse your paper bags and will give you a nickel credit per bag to take your groceries home. Paper bags can also be recycled in your curbside recycling service.
Plastic Bottles, Glass Bottles and Cans
For your bottles and cans that require a deposit, New Seasons Market is happy to refund you for those empties. Another option is to donate your deposit cans and bottles; with proceeds going to the Portland Schools Foundation, the Beaverton Education Foundation and the Hillsboro Schools Foundation. It's such an easy way to donate, and all those little bits really add up.
 Acceptable Beverage Containers:
• Beer or Malt Beverage
• Soda or Soft Drink
• Carbonated Water
• Non-Carbonated Water
• Flavored Water (“Water” must be on label)
• Non-Carbonated Sports Drinks with “Water” on Label
• Carbonated Sports Drinks defined as a “Soft Drink”
For more specific information about The Bottle Bill, please click here.
Other Recycling Resources
Many items that are not taken curbside can be dropped off at public depots and waste roundups. Check the websites for Metro, DEQ, Find a Recycler and Far West Fibers for more information. For odd and small plastics (like straws, coffee cup lids, a plastic chair, a child’s slide) see the Master Recycler Plastic Recycling Roundup events throughout the region. |
