Why is recycling so hard? 😩 It’s frustrating, but the best thing we can do is reduce, reuse, and stay informed about what our local systems can handle.
Enter: Sustain Dane
The "Recycle Better" page by Sustain Dane offers practical guidance to help residents of Madison and Dane County improve their recycling habits. It highlights common recycling mistakes such as "wishcycling," summarizes the "7 Rs of Waste," provides links to city-specific recycling guidelines, and even offers classes to learn how to recycle better.
Some quick food-related recycling tips:
✔️ Carton containers for juice, milk, soup, wine, cream, and egg substitutes are recyclable (plastic caps can stay on!)
✔️ What looks like "wax" on cartons? It's actually recyclable plastic.
✔️ Keep lids on plastic items, but remove them from glass. Small metal caps? Collect in a tin can and pinch it shut.
✔️ Wishcycling = tossing non-recyclables in the bin. It slows down the system and can put workers at risk. When in doubt, throw it out.
Head to www.sustaindane.org/better to get all the details!
#EarthWeek2025 #recycle #willystreetcoop
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Happy Earth Day! 🌎
To honor the day, we’re sharing the Environmental Impact Metrics for our sustainable practices. These numbers reflect our progress during Fiscal Year 2024 (ending June 30, 2024) We’ll update them annually as we continue to grow and improve.
Check it out in our April Reader and online at willystreet.coop/sustainability. 🔗 is in our bio.
Refrigerant use: 365 lbs
Traditional refrigerants harm the Earth’s ozone layer and can contribute to global warming. 📸: Francis pulls a shade over an open cooler to reduce refrigerant usage over night.
Electricity use: 2,850,090 kilowatt hours
Reducing electricity use ( through using LED lights, energy-efficient equipment, etc.) means less energy from coal-fired power plants and a lower energy bill. 📸: All our lighting—including the gooseneck lamps—on the sales floors are LEDs.
Natural gas use: 53,637 BTUs
Natural gas is mostly methane, a greenhouse gas, and is extracted via drilling and fracking. 📸: A gas heater is used to heat Willy East’s foyer.
Water use; includes bulk water sales: 3,444,483 gallons
More efficient use of water for business uses keeps more fresh water for other uses.
📸: Philip sprays down our produce with RO water.
Solar power generated at Co-op sites
26,910 kilowatt hours
We aim to reduce the amount of energy we get from coal-fired power plants through use of solar panels at our sites. 📸: Solar panels on Willy East’s rooftop. Tyson stands next to part of our solar hot water indirect circulation system.
Local product sales
$22,086,997
Local food means less transportation, less reliance on Big Food, and more money in our local economy. 📸: Our Produce Departments display the # of local products and percentage of organic products, whichwe update weekly.
Certified organic sales in Bulk, Meat & Produce departments: $1,631,807
More organic food means fewer pesticides, and better land and water stewardship.
Compost: 260,540 lbs
The most sustainable way to divert organic waste from landfills is to turn it into compost and use it to grow food. 📸: Compost bins outside of Willy East.
#EarthDay #sustainability #willystreetcoop
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Celebrate Earth Day with your neighbors and friends by volunteering to clean up your local park! Join this community-wide volunteer effort to help make a difference. Accept the Earth Day Challenge with Madison Parks! They are seeking 900 volunteers at 60+ parks, located throughout the city to assist with trash pickup, raking, weeding, and removing sticks. They will supply gloves, garbage bags and rakes. Rakes at each park will be based on the number of volunteers registered.
DATE: Saturday, April 26, 2025
TIME: 10am to 12pm
LOCATIONS: Parks throughout the city
Go to www.cityofmadison.com/parks/volunteer/programs/earth-day-challenge to learn more.
Photo of Warner Park by Brinnan Shaffer
Image: A person holds a trash picker and bag while standing on the grass by water.
#EarthDay2025
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💪 Bulk Up on BULK 🫘 for Earth Week 🌎
Shopping in our Bulk Department helps reduce your food budget and waste!
15% OFF all bulk items (except for bulk water and bulk coffee) for everyone starts today! Over 500 bulk items on sale. Buy as much or as little as you need.
Fresh Deals are for everyone. 4/21/25–4/27/25, while supplies last.
Want to se what else is on Fresh Deals this week? Go to www.willystreet.coop/fresh-deals or click the 🔗 in our bio.
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*C0NTEST CLOSED* As we continue to celebrate the co-op's 50th anniversary we are offering you the opportunity to get two 5 gallon jugs filled with our bulk Reverse Osmosis water to kick off Earth Week. Interested? Just tell us what you're planning to do to participate in Earth Day this year along with at which store you'd like to pick up your pr!ze if your comment is selected. We'll randomly select a comment from all Instagram and Facebook comments on Wednesday, April 23rd.
Please be aware of occasional spam bots. We never ask you to click on a link to claim a pr!ze, and we don't draw a w!nner until April 23rd.
Good Iuck!
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Looks what's new ✨👀
Il Porcellino: Il Porcellino Salumi is an artisan meat producer based in Basalt, CO. It was started by chef Bill Miner who taught himself the art of charcuterie. He built his company ethos to reflect his personal beliefs, which includes sourcing sustainably raised animals, hand-made small-batch production, and utilizing old-world techniques. You can find the following salami flavors at all 3 of our stores: Black Truffle, Calabrese, Green Chile Tequila, Orange Fennel, Orange Pistachio, and Rosette de Lyon. www.ilporcellinodenver.com
Truvani Organic Plant-Based Protein Powders: The Truvani brand was created in order to provide health and food products with clean ingredients and without added fillers and chemicals. They believe in fighting for transparency in the food industry and their products aim to be an example of that. Truvani’s organic protein powders are made with pea protein and all the other listed ingredients will be recognizable as “food” rather than something made in a lab. You can find the Chocolate and Vanilla at all 3 of our stores. www.truvani.com
Willy Street Co-op Buttermilk Biscuits & Turkey Sausage Gravy: We’ve brought the breakfast classic of Biscuits & Gravy to our breakfast hot bar offerings! The Turkey Sausage Gravy recipe uses Minnesota-raised Ferndale ground turkey, local flour, and local milk. Our house-made Buttermilk Biscuits are not new, but it’s been a few years since they’ve been offered and never on the hot bar before now. Available in all 3 of our Delis from 7:30–11am.
Willy Street Co-op Vegan Made-without-Gluten Biscuits & Vegan Made-without-
Gluten Mushroom Gravy: You’ll also find our new Vegan Made-without-Gluten Biscuits. The Vegan Made-without-Gluten Mushroom Gravy is not a new offering for us, but again it’s an important mention as it completes the circle of biscuit and gravy comfort. Available in all 3 of our Delis from 7:30–11am.
Willy Street Co-op Vegan Made-without-Gluten Tofu Scramble: For those interested in an egg substitute, for price or dietary reasons, they can now find our house-made Tofu Scramble as a new offering on our hot bars. Available in all three of our Delis from 7:30–11am.
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6 CommentsComment on Facebook
Unfortunately most things in Dane County ends up in the landfill even though people are putting it in the recycle bin
I didn't know that about cartons. Great info!
Put an AirTag into your recycling bin. See where it ends up. At landfill, or at recycling center. You might be surprised / disappointed in the results.
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