If you were asked to pick a green concept for a company, a grocery delivery business probably wouldn't be the first thing that comes to mind.
But Small Potatoes Urban Delivery (SPUD) has proven that it can be done. It was recently awarded the Better Business Bureau's Green Award.
First look at the lights. Almost two-thirds of them are out. That's not bad maintenance - that's on purpose.
Founder David Van Seters said he got rid of 60 percent of the lights in the warehouse by using task lighting instead of overhead lighting.
Groceries are packed in reusable bins - not plastic bags.
"We are fanatic recyclers. We recycle everything we can possibly find so there is so little waste actually going out of the building."
Insulation for frozen or dairy products is used over and over again, too.
SPUD commissioned an independent green study by the Pembina Institute to see if delivering was better for the environment.
"The carbon savings from our delivery vehicles delivering on a set route once a week is about 40 percent lower than people taking their own private car to the grocery store and back for the same amount of groceries delivered," Van Seters said.
Customers can go to SPUD's website and look at the amount of carbon they save by the choices they make.
Buying locally is one way.
"We actually publish the distance that every one of our products travels from where it's produced to get to our warehouse," Van Seters said. "We've managed to reduce the average distance of 2400 kilometers, that you would find in an average grocery store product, to 800 kilometers."
With a report from CTV British Columbia's Chris Olsen
