New England Country Mart Launches Green Initiatives for Earth Day
New Reuse Program Will Eliminate 26,000 Pounds of Cardboard Waste a Year
(Boston) New England Country Mart (NECM), the family-owned fresh produce and grocery home delivery service, is launching new green initiatives on Earth Day to save some of the 71 million tons of paper products Americans use every year. Starting on April 22, NECM will begin reusing cardboard delivery boxes delivered to customers. The grocer will also offer special Earth Day eco-friendly picnic bundles for home delivery which will include everything needed to get out and enjoy the beauty of Mother Nature.
While all of NECM boxes are recyclable, reusing them will have less of an impact on the environment. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, only about 70% of cardboard boxes used everyday worldwide are recycled. Those that are recycled are often downcycled into chipboard, paperboard and other paper products. NECM’s system eliminates the need for chemical processing that can be damaging to the environment and does little to eliminate the need for new cardboard.
NECM is going above and beyond to ensure the boxes are cleaned and sterilized before they are put back in circulation. Every box comes with an insulated liner ensuring the food items never touch the inside of the cardboard shipping box. Customers remove the groceries from the liner and then leave the box and liner for pickup on their next delivery. Once collected from the customer, the boxes go through a thorough inspection process. Any box that is damaged or contaminated is recycled. The boxes that pass inspection are then separated and stored in a warehouse for a minimum of eight weeks. Finally, the boxes are cleaned and sterilized with disinfectant and UV light before they can be used again.
“When my husband and I launched New England Country Mart we were committed to unrivaled customer service, freshness, and sustainability,” said Elyssa Kotzen, Co-Founder, New England Country Mart. “Our new Earth Day initiative will allow us to take 500 pounds of cardboard a week out of the municipal waste stream and still deliver the same quality products from some of New England’s best food and beverage producers.”
The Earth Day eco-friendly picnic bundles include a Charcuterie board with local cheese, dried fruit, cured meats, yogurt pretzels, fresh grapes and more. Each box will also contain biodegradable plates and flatware. To make the picnic complete, bundles include seed paper loaded with wildflower seeds so that customers can plant a garden. The Earth Day eco-friendly picnic bundles can be purchased at newenglandcountrymart.com.
The Earth Day initiatives are just the latest green effort from New England Country Mart. From its inception, New England Country Mart has sought out trusted sustainable producers that were doing their best to mitigate their environmental impact. At New England Country Mart, customers can purchase greens from Town to Table that were grown in hydroponic shipping containers which can grow an entire acre’s worth of produce while using 90% less water than traditional farming practices, or Brewer’s Crackers that are upcycled from spent grains used in the beer making process. New England Country Mart has partnerships with dozens of companies that are creating delicious products that create a positive impact on the planet.
About New England Country Mart:
New England Country Mart (NECM) is a premium, family-owned fresh produce and grocery home delivery service born out of 4th-generation wholesale produce company J.W. Lopes at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. For more than 100 years, J.W. Lopes and the Kotzen family brought a farm-to-table approach to the wholesale produce business in the Greater-Boston area, and are known for providing fresh premium produce to restaurants, institutions, and grocers.
These same values and expertise were critical to building the foundation for New England Country Mart. NECM strives to deliver the freshest, most sustainable, nutrient-dense foods from every corner of New England. NECM serves the Greater-Boston area with expanded service to Cape Cod, Rhode Island, and Southern New Hampshire offering free delivery six days a week with orders over $75.
