The holidays are a time of joy and celebration, of getting together with family and friends and sharing the gifts of the season. This is also the most wasteful time of the year.

I work in a part of Whole Foods Market that our customers probably don't think about very much - one of our regional distribution centers. Here in Maryland, my facility stocks and moves most of the product that you find on the shelves in our Mid-Atlantic Region stores.

So, Whole Foods Market is this really “super-green” retailer with a strong Green Mission. Right? Then why are we still providing single use, disposable, non-recyclable, non-compostable, fossil plastic cutlery in our stores? Our customers ask every day why we seem to overlook our values on this. What’s up with that? As with any decent conundrum, there are a number of ways to look at this issue. The Whole Foods Market Green Mission Specialists would like to share with you why this is one of the most complex and convoluted challenges we face in trying to put our values into action.

Our Team Members love opening new stores - it gives them a blank canvas to try out all of their cool ideas.