Hello everyone we hope you had yourselves a good week! I've been thinking a lot about sustainability this week. It's a regular iteration at Local Yokels to evaluate our operations and see if there are any new ideas, products or innovations that can help us lower waste, source more locally, or participate more deeply in local circular economy.
Here are some things you may not know.
In-House Packaging
We use compostable packaging whenever possible. Our green produce bags, paper bags, and even the little brown bags your mushrooms and beans come in have plant based viewing windows on them. You'll also see our little compostable pint rounds and while we don't have compostable plastic substitutes for frozen goods, meats, and some dairy, we are keeping an eye on compostable industry developments in these areas and will be bringing them to you as soon as tested and approved products are developed! The realm of compostable packaging can be confusing. Can I compost it in my home compost pile or city compost facility? The answer to this question is often no. But what we can say is that you can confidently throw it away and rest easy knowing that even in a landfill, it will break down to soil components over time and never become microplastics or ocean pollution clogging up our ecosystem as single use plastic inevitably becomes. When we are gone, it too, will be gone.
Delivery Bags
After much searching we have finally come up with new delivery bags made of recycled plastic. We will continue to use our old ones and come up with end use possibilities as they age and need to be replaced. What we can say is this: We have filled over 10,000 orders with our collection of about 800 bags. That means each bag has taken the place approximately 15 unrecyclable wax boxes and most of them are still going strong! I do imagine they will one day retire into walk-in cooler insulation on a Local Yokels Farm of our own!
Returnables
We currently take back Seeking Kombucha and Tunawerth glass bottles and jars, and Left Foot Farms egg cartons. We continue to encourage small businesses to package in reusable containers and are committed to facilitating the reduction of waste in this way whenever possible.
The Future is Electric
Finally, as we look to the future, I spent my evenings eagerly scouring the internet for the first all electric delivery vehicles to hit the market at a price point we can afford. Freightliner MT50e I have my eye on you, and as the grandchild of truck drivers, our first all electric vehicle being a Freightliner TICKLES! In the line of Family Freightliners, The First one was a terrible gas guzzler named Miss Piggie, and the last was Purple, much more fuel efficient and saw one million miles before it was retired.
It's been a cool Spring and we are eagerly awaiting those first strawberries, tomatoes and snap peas of the season to ripen on the vine. Our first round of Spring Chickens are ready for you, as is my all time favorite, Key Lime Pie from Black Magic Sweets! If you've been thinking about upgrading to the Deluxe Staples Subscription, this is your week because while our regular subscribers will be getting a 4" pie, the Deluxes will be receiving the whole dang 8"!!
Keep fighting the good fight against oppression and tyranny; we lurv you, hold each other, and have a great week! XO
