Green Mission

Whole Foods Market Dedham proclaimed “The Greenest Grocery Store in the World”.

The Dedham store has been recognized for its environmentally friendly design, construction and operations with the Green Building Initiative’s Green Globes certification and the EPA’s GreenChill certification.

Our Fuel Cell: 400 kilowatts from UTC Power produce approximately 90% of our store’s energy needs and all the hot water on-site.

Our Solar Panels: 80kW rooftop solar installation made up of 460 panels, which are owned & operated by SunEdison, provides most of the power used by the lighting in our store. You can actually take a look at these panels from the top level of the Legacy Place parking garage!

Waste Reduction: Whole Foods Market recycles, composts and reuses 80% of its waste and offers customers the opportunity to recycle their cell phones, printer cartridges, #5 plastics and compact fluorescent light bulbs (ask a customer service representative for more information).

Our Building Materials: We divert 75% of construction waste from landfills and use zero VOC (volatile organic compounds) emissions paint.  In addition, many construction design materials are made from reclaimed, recycled and readily renewable sources including the structural steel, Trikeenan wall tiles and Marmoleum check stands.  Our added windows and 16 skylights allow more natural light which helps reduce our electricity consumption.

You probably didn’t know that…

• The toilet partitions in the bathrooms are made from recycled milk jugs
• Our register tape is made from recycled paper
• We use all-natural cork bulletin boards

Reusable Shopping Bags

• For every reusable shopping bag you bring for us to pack your groceries, we’ll give you a five cent rebate!
• Did you forget your bags at home?  No worries, you can purchase a durable “designer” bag from us for as little as 79 cents.
• Perhaps you left your bags in the car and don’t have time to run out and fetch them.  We’ll pack your groceries in 100% recycled paper bags that are Forest Steward Council-certified. You can recycle them with your paper when you get home or bring them back to the store next time you shop with us (and you’ll receive a 5 cent rebate per bag).
• While we do not offer plastic shopping bags at check out, we do accept bags from other retailers for recycling.

Environmentally-conscious Dining in our Cafe

We offer reusable plates and bowls for on-site dining.  Unfortunately, due to Health Department regulations we do not allow you to fill your own containers with food from our hot and cold bars.  However, you are always welcome to bring a clean, personal coffee or travel mug to the coffee bar for fill up.

When you are done eating, we encourage you to dispose of unwanted food waste and paper napkins, pizza boxes & compostable salad bar containers in the compost receptacles located at either end of the cafe.  And you may place recyclable plastic, glass bottles and metal containers in one of the recycling bins.

If you wish to take your prepared foods to go, our salad bar containers are made from natural fibers obtained from bulrush (cattails), an abundant renewable resource.  Bulrush is harvested annually in the wild with no clear cutting involved.  There is no negative impact on the environment as a result.  Since no trees need to be cut down and they are not bleached with chlorine, you can take your salad-to-go without any guilt.  Oh and don’t worry, the containers are water & grease-resistant as well as microwave-safe.

Whole Foods Market Dedham makes it easy to recycle!

We accept the following:

• Cell phones
• Compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs)
• Plastic bags
• Glass bottles and jars
• Plastic containers (#1 – #7)
• Aluminum Cans

Preserve Gimme 5 : Number 5 Plastic Recycling Program

We are proud to partner with Preserve, maker of recycled plastic household goods.  Drop off your cleaned out number 5 plastic containers (most yogurt, cottage cheese and sour cream comes in #5 plastic) and Brita filters in the white “Gimme 5″ bin located at the Customer Service booth.  We will send the containers back to Preserve so they can give them a new life as a toothbrush, razor blade handle, picnic plate, cutting board, food storage container or other consumer product.