apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

My Costco (Marina del Rey, CA) just filled their entire roof with electric solar panels.

I'm trying as hard as I can to think and buy local, so I've been trying to convince my husband to abandon our Costco membership. I don't get too much of a sense of community when I go shopping at Costco.

Shopping at CostCo is buying one step up the distribution chain than when you shop at a regular supermarket -- so all those emissions from trucks delivering smaller boxes to retail locations are eliminated, and you also get a much lower ratio of packaging to food. So it's a little green.

Actually, Costco has been doing a lot to go green. They elimiminated plastic bags (without any fanfare) and they've been converting regular apple orchards to organic. Right now you can buy "transitional" apples. And, if you ever eat Earthbound lettuce, spinach or baby carrots you can thank Costco for helping them to streamline their production and expanding their market. They also sell Eco-products laundry detergent and cleaning supplies, recycled paper towels, and recycled paper TP in our store. Other organic (up for debate if they're green) products they carry at our store include organic Heinz Ketchup, organic milk and butter, free range organic eggs, organic frozen berries & veggies, organic lettuce & spinach, organic carrots, organic Rudi's Bread, a variety of organic cereals, and much more. We get big jugs of vinegar and baking soda there for washing the babes diapers and cleaning the house. On the other front, when it comes to big boxes, they are known for good benefits, they even pay Iraq soldiers salaries when they are on duty (you won't see Wal-mart or many others doing that). I'd much rather shop at my neighborhood store, but there is something to be said for buying in bulk, streamlined production and so on.

We do belong to Costco. We originally purchased a membership because we needed new tires. Now we keep the membership for entertainment value more than anything. Living in an apartment, we just don't have the storage space for most bulk purchases!

Yeses:
--The "environmentally friendly" Wintree detergent. Admittedly, I have not researched how this compares to other eco-detergents, and I would prefer if it came unscented.
--The juicers. Good for using up csa-box bounty.
--They do carry organic milk. However, it is that mega-pasteurized kind that lasts an absurdly long time and tastes a little different. It's also probably big-business organic milk rather than cooperative local organic milk.
--They do not distribute plastic bags. Either use the cardboard or bring your own bags. I find my big IKEA reusable bags to be the perfect size for dealing with costco stuff and they stay wide-open so the grocery bouncers on your way out can still see everything in your cart.
--I don't recall ever seeing fresh organic fruits and vegetables, except maybe spring mix salad, which is readily available locally grown, most of the year in Chicago through irv and shelley's fresh picks.
--Magazines and flowers and books. Granola snacks. My guilty pleasures at Costco. Maybe I'll list my books on paperbackswap after I read them! And I pass along my magazines to friends after I'm finished with them. We have an informal swap going at the neighborhood playlot.

Nos:
--Items like apples come in plastic shells. Mega wasteful packaging!
--Diapers in bulk. Formula in bulk. It's the reason many of my parent-friends join Costco. But breastfeeding is healthier for baby and greener. Cloth diapering may be greeener (and is still cheaper). Going diaper free is greener still.
--Children's snack packs. I buy in bulk and shove the whole box under the stroller. Makes sharing with friends easier anyway :).
--Almost everyone at Costco has bottled water in their cart. Would so many people buying bottled water if it weren't available by the pallet?
--I am suspicious of Clorox green cleaners. I'll stick with vinegar, baking soda, and Bon Ami! Still, I'd love it if they carried ecover dishwasher tablets, my favorite dish detergent.

The first and last time I ever shopped at Costco, I was shocked at the excessive packaging they used for their products. The salesperson said that Costco added extra plastic packaging to smaller products to deter theft. Not a fan of big box stores. Small and local is the way I prefer to shop.

I'm curious about the availability of organic produce at costco and non-CAFO or organic meats, etc.

We buy organic food at Costco, but beware that most of the organics there are "organic lite". That is, the dairy cows eat organic grain and probably live in a cell block instead of on pasture.

Buying in bulk does not necessarily have to be wasteful. For instance, I buy several kinds of fruit and trade with neighbors. When I buy a huge amount of mushrooms and make cream of mushroom soup, I take it next door. I return with my neighbor's home-made spaghetti sauce or bread.

jyllebean -- in Colorado they carry Maverick Ranch buffalo and chicken. They also periodically carry some varieties of organic beef, but I haven't paid attention to the brand. For the most part the warehouse I am sure sells loads of CAFO meets. And, they do package little things in plastic to prevent theft, which is a big waste. However, if you read my link above to the story about Earthbound, I think you might find that Costco may a good place to start when it comes to greening the ungreen. My husband and I always chuckle when someone asks us about an organic product in our cart at Costco. Or our natural laundry detergent. And, they do support some local businesses. For example, in my area they carry Eco-products detergent, Blue Moose Hummus, and Rudi's bread, which are all local.

Costco is the devil. I don't believe for a second that they would do anything green-related unless there was somehow an economic incentive for them to do it. The fact of the matter is that:

-Just about every packaged product comes from a huge food conglomerate.
-Most of their produce is flown in from outside of North America. Lo and behold, peaches, blackberries and blueberries in the dead of winter!
-They have essentially eliminated everything/anything vegan.
-And then there is the pesky packaging issue, which only drives up the incentive to consume more and more.

Beg to differ, hejiranyc. Not much demand for vegan food really, so Costco doesn't stock it. Larger packaging saves plastic etc. Also, and this is a big one, Costco is a responsible employer who pays their workers a fair wage; offers insurance and other benefits, and the CEO restricts his salary to $350,000 per year or something like that and spends a portion of every day on the Costco floor helping to stock, talking to customers etc.

We love Costco. They are a very responsible company in many ways, which Matilda and others mentioned. From what I've read they are really good to their employees. They have quality products at great prices and support local companies.

Remember 'green' is only one aspect of the sustainability triangle -- local economies and communities are just as important. Simply being 'green' isn't good enough and can often be determintal.

So while Costco may be green(ish) through less packaging, transportation of goods, etc, and socially responsible with a fair wages, etc., whether it is sustainable is another question, given the impact on local businesses such as the corner store mentioned in the original post and sense of community mentioned in the comment by natalie.c.

Well, it's hit or miss. My rule for shopping at costco? Don't buy anything I wouldn't buy outside of the store - and no cheating. What did I get last time I went?

-Beechers Flagship Cheddar - HUGE hunk of local, artisinal cheese - made literally minutes from my home, and my favorite, to boot.
-Tillamook Cheddar - Hey, it's local enough.
-Basson Bakery Pita Bread - I buy a pack of this a week. It's made in the next town over.
-Pacific Organics Tomato Soup - No packaging savings, but it's still a local brand, and organic.
-Like, six pounds of Prego. At least it was "heart smart."

I'm going again this week and buying big honking cases of local microbrews.

I also know for a fact that they give their employees excellent benefits. So maybe they are evil, but at least they aren't as evil as the vast majority of grocery stores out there. Those huge packages of Charmin toilet paper are HARD to resist, though.