GREEN INITIATIVES
As the largest food bank in New Mexico, Roadrunner® Food Bank understands that our commitment to our community extends past our mission of providing food to the hungry. We are also devoted to being good community members in other ways, and serving as a good example for other corporations and nonprofit organizations in Albuquerque and across the state of New Mexico. One way we identified that we could be better citizens was by reducing our carbon footprint and taking an initiative to be as “green” and environmentally-friendly as possible.
In 2010, Roadrunner Food Bank began a process to include green initiatives in our operations. However, we remain a hunger relief organization first and foremost, and would never use donor funds earmarked for our mission-based activities to underwrite our green initiatives. To that end, we have determined that whatever initiatives we undertake to fulfill our commitment to being green must be cost-neutral, and any initial expenditures must be covered by specific grants or funds for green programs.
Our Green Initiatives for Our Community
At Roadrunner Food Bank, we have committed to different green initiatives throughout the years, each with a different impact on the community and our environment, as well as our operations.
Some of our green initiatives include:
- Solar Rooftop – We have 366 solar panels installed on our rooftop at our main warehouse, which meet between 60-95% of our energy needs, and save us nearly $2 million dollars each year in energy costs. The solar rooftop initiative was completed in 2016 and we lease the power at a reduced rate. View drone footage through this link. You can also see the real-time activity of the solar array here.
- Solar Battery Charging – In 2017, Solar Builder named Roadrunner Food Bank as the Project of the Year for our solar and storage system upgrade. The solar battery charging provides additional saving as a demand reduction unit. It deploys during times of high use (for example defrosting our enormous freezers or summer when electricity use is high) to keep the “peak” of our energy use flat. This demand reduction system works in conjunction with the solar array.
- Composting and Food Recycling – We have created initiatives to send unused food to compost or to be used as animal food through several different community partners.
- In-House Recycling – We recycle a variety of materials, such as cardboard and plastic, from our warehouse and offices. We are even able to recycle packaging like banana boxes by reusing them to sort and pack food.
- Food Rescue – Billions of pounds of food are wasted every year although much of it is still edible and usable. Food rescue is one way we capture unwanted or unsold food from food industry donors every year. It represents one of the largest sources of food we provide to people struggling with hunger. We also look for new ways to capture excess food at large scale community events by working with local groups like the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta to rescue food after each event. We facilitate pick up by one of our meal program partners to provide specific event food, primarily to homeless clients.
- Energy Reduction Efforts – We have worked to reduce our energy usage throughout our facilities, including replacing light fixtures, getting new, energy-efficient equipment, and insulating our warehouse and other areas to reduce our heating and cooling needs. We also have external xeriscape landscaping, which saves on water costs as well.
- Paper Reduction Initiatives – In our warehouse and throughout our administrative offices, we use electronic sources instead of paper ones, including in invoicing, checking items in and out, and more.
- Fleet improvements – Our trucks are fitted with GPS systems that help our drivers find the most efficient routes to deliver our food across the state, and we provide our drivers with policies to reduce gasoline usage, such as turning the truck off when at rest rather than idling. Fairings are installed when possible on our fleet to reduce drag and utilize fuel more efficiently.
- Used Natural Gas Reseller – We partner with an agency that provides used natural gas at a lower rate than we can get through public facilities, saving us money that we can then reinvest toward our mission.
If you would like to be involved or have specific questions about our Green Initiatives, please contact us.
