Wednesday, April 22, is Earth Day. What have you done lately for Mother Earth?

Strack & Van Til continues its tradition of taking strides to protect the planet. They know that even the smallest actions toward sustainability can create a significant impact and make our world a better place for the next generation.

Beginning in 2014, Strack & Van Til created “Indiana Made” store Green Teams and set the grocery standard in conserving energy, reducing waste, recycling and promoting sustainability.

“The contribution made by our Green Teams is what makes our efforts a success,” says Director of Facilities and Operations Don Erminger. “The Green Teams meet every three months to share success stories, track our results and continue our education. They’re led by our store associates to steward best practices in energy, waste and water conservation across all our stores’ staff and departments.”

According to Erminger, in 2014 Strack & Van Til committed to reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from energy and waste by 40% by 2026. To achieve this goal, the grocery chain has taken the following steps toward sustainability and good stewardship:

• Reduced GHG emissions from electricity by 48% since 2014. This is equivalent to GHG emissions of 4,530 cars driven for one year or the energy use of 2,608 homes.
• Cut GHG emissions from natural gas by 7% since 2014, comparable to the GHG emissions of 118 cars driven for one year or the energy use of 68 homes for a year.
• Overall, since 2014, Strack & Van Til has reduced its GHG emissions from total energy use by 42%, which is equal to GHG emissions from 4,648 cars driven for one year or the energy use of 2,676 homes.

Recycling plays an important part in Strack & Van Til’s environmental goals.

“Since late 2017, we’ve diverted 21% more trash away from landfills,” explains Erminger. “This is equal to 1,148 metric tonnes of GHG eliminated, of which 215 metric tonnes of GHG equivalents are from our organic diversion program.”

Highlights include the program to recycle organic waste from produce and dairy, which began in 2018. Since then, Strack & Van Til has diverted 2,335 tons of waste that would have ended up in a landfill. In 2025, the grocer recycled 496 tons of mixed recycling and 4,528 tons of cardboard and diverted 186 tons of waste for reuse by local farmers through the Farm to Table Division Program.

The list of efforts is capped off by water conservation. Since 2018, Strack & Van Til has reduced water use by 12%, the amount needed to fill 6.4 Olympic-size swimming pools.

Strack & Van Til is on a sustainability mission, on Earth Day and every day. Shop at your local store for quality products at a great value and support a company that cares enough to be kind to Mother Earth. Happy Earth Day from Strack & Van Til.