We are excited to announce the recent Green Business certification of Natural Grocers in Hazel Dell! Natural Grocers takes many steps to protect the environment and to bring their customers organic and environmentally friendly products.

"Paper or plastic?" At Natural Grocers, the answer is neither! Unlike many grocery stores, Natural Grocers has a bag-free check out. Customers can bring their own reusable bags, or they can reuse cardboard boxes from the store. For every reusable bag that is used, Natural Grocers donates $0.05 to charity.

To further reduce waste, printers are set to double-sided by default, and they use laminated labels in the produce department that are wiped clean and reused rather than regularly printing new ones. Instead of using disposable wipes they clean with rags that are washed by a laundering service.

They also participate in We Compost, making the Vancouver store one of the trendsetting businesses in Clark County that opts in for commercial food waste composting. Collecting food scraps at grocery stores and restaurants is a significant step for keeping valuable material out of landfills.

Beyond these projects, Natural Grocers recycles plastic film and electronics, and purchases recycled content copy paper and green cleaning products. Although Natural Grocers has numerous environmental initiatives in place and is now a certified Green Business, their green team is already evaluating other ways to reduce the grocery store's environmental footprint. The Clark County Green Business Program looks forward to seeing what they achieve next!