Portland, Ore. - To help celebrate Earth Month this April, the Bulk is Green Council (BIG) is challenging consumers to take the pledge to “Love Bulk Foods” (by bulk foods we mean foods bought from the bulk bins of a grocery store) for the chance to win a gift basket filled with everything needed to help create a natural and organic pantry filled with eco-friendly bulk foods.

Eco-conscious consumers interested in taking the pledge should visit the Love Bulk Foods pledge page on the BIG website and sign a digital pledge to purchase bulk foods once a week during Earth Month. Pledgers automatically will be entered in a drawing where winners will be selected once a week at random and receive their very own Earth Month starter kit filled with everything needed to help create a natural and organic pantry and get on board with bulk foods.

Why should consumers take BIG’s pledge to Love Bulk Foods? According to a recent Bulk Foods Study conducted by Portland State University’s Food Industry Leadership Center (FILC), buying natural and organic bulk foods from the bulk bins provide significant benefits to the environment – chief among them being a substantial amount of packaging waste diverted from landfills. What better time than Earth Month for consumers excited about bulk foods and their environmental benefits?

Check out the above infographic that shows why the earth loves bulk foods.

ABOUT BULK IS GREEN COUNCIL
The Bulk is Green Council is an organization dedicated to increasing consumer, retailer and grocer awareness of the environmental and economic benefits of buying in bulk. Founded in 2008, the council serves as a research and advocacy group, promoting industry trends and offering educational tools and resources online. BIG also sponsors National Bulk Foods Week each October. The board includes industry leaders Frontier Natural Products Co-Op, Hain Celestial, Lundberg Family Farms, SunRidge Farms and Trade Fixtures. Additional information is available at BulkIsGreen.org.

Portland, Ore. – November 19, 2012 –The Bulk is Green Council (BIG), together with natural food stores and grocery stores across the country recently participated in the 2012 National Bulk Foods Week to celebrate and educate consumers about the eco-friendly and affordable benefits of buying natural and organic foods in bulk.

Approximately 800 stores signed up to participate in this weeklong event held October 14-20, 2012 by decorating their stores, promoting through literature, offering samples and discounts on bulk food products, and telling the Bulk is Green story.

“Bulk food aisles have been around for decades, and the countless environmental and money-saving benefits are becoming more well-known among shoppers,” said Clint Landis, chief marketing officer for Frontier Natural Products Co-Op and a founding member of the Bulk is Green Council.  “Still, for those who have never shopped in bulk, National Bulk Foods Week provides the perfect opportunity to discover the environmental and economic benefits of doing so.”

Governors of fifteen other states also formally recognized the benefits of shopping the bulk foods aisle by proclaiming Oct. 14-20, 2012, National Bulk Foods Week in their states.

The Bulk is Green Council (BIG) is proud to announce Market of Choice #7 as the winner of the "2012 Bulk Retailer of the Year" award.  Market of Choice #7, located in Corvallis, OR showed great creativity in promoting National Bulk Foods Week.  To help celebrate and promote all the good reasons to buy in bulk, Amanda C., Bulk Buyer for Market of Choice #7 decorated her bulk section very well, brought in 15 local bulk food suppliers for sampling and also brought in waste management personnel to talk about the packaging savings associated with bulk foods.  Congratulations Market of Choice #7 and Amanda!

The Bulk is Green (BIG) Council would like to thank everyone who participated, and encourages you to participate in the 2013 National Bulk Foods Week to be held in October.

For more information about the benefits of buying in bulk, please visit www.bulkisgreen.org.

ABOUT BULK IS GREEN COUNCIL

The Bulk is Green (BIG) Council is an organization dedicated to increasing consumer, retailer and grocer awareness of the environmental and economic benefits of buying natural and organic in bulk. Founded in 2008, the council serves as a research and advocacy group, conducting and publishing studies on industry trends and offering educational tools and resources online. The board includes industry leaders Frontier Natural Products Co-Op, Hain Celestial, Lundberg Family Farms, SunRidge Farms and Trade Fixtures. Additional information is available at BulkisGreen.org.

Portland, Ore. – August 18, 2010 – Appealing to the soccer mom and the penny-pinching couple alike, shopping in the bulk foods aisle has quickly become one of 2010’s hottest trends, according to the Wall Street Journal.  Celebrating National Bulk Foods Day on October 23 and this boom in bulk shopping, the Bulk is Green Council is proud to announce the launch of the first of a series of two YouTube videos that follow everyday shoppers on a trip to their neighborhood grocery store, documenting how they save time and money while shopping green.

"Budgets are tight and people are thinking twice about how far their dollar takes them," said Bart McKnight, founding council member and Category Manager for Trade Fixtures.  "We decided to document the experiences of real people to better understand how Americans are getting creative with their purchasing decisions, and we think that these videos will teach people a thing or two about to how to make cost-effective, eco-friendly choices at the grocery store."

The first YouTube video, which can be viewed here, follows a 40-something man and a mom and her son on their quest to gather the 11 ingredients needed to make a wholesome natural snack.  The man shops in the regular aisles of the grocery store, while the mom and child shop exclusively in the bulk foods aisle.  The drastic difference in total cost and time required of each is then compared.

The second video in the series follows a different set of shoppers who are prepping a gourmet dinner for a group of friends, and will be launched in time for the first-ever National Bulk Foods Day on October 23.

"The videos reveal some interesting information about how people shop for food today," said Clint Landis, founding member of the Bulk is Green Council and Chief Marketing Officer for Frontier Natural Products Co-Op.  "We suspected that the mother and child shopping natural in bulk would save money – anywhere from 30 to 96 percent – but we were surprised to see the little boy had fun selecting all the ingredients from one aisle.  He actually taught his mom how to shop in bulk, while the single man shopping in the regular aisles had to run all around the store to find what he needed and ended up pretty frustrated."

The Bulk is Green Council launched the YouTube campaign as part of an ongoing effort to educate people on the environmental and economic benefits of shopping natural and organic in bulk.  Founded in 2008, the council includes industry leaders Hain Celestial Group, SunRidge Farms, Frontier Natural Products Co-Op, Trade Fixtures, and Lundberg Family Farms.  The Bulk is Green Council invites YouTube viewers to share their own experiences shopping in bulk by posting their story in the video’s comments section at http://www.youtube.com/BulkisGreenCouncil, or by contacting the council at BulkisGreen.org.

 

ABOUT BULK IS GREEN COUNCIL

Bulk is Green Council is an organization dedicated to increasing consumer, retailer and grocer awareness of the environmental and economic benefits of buying natural and organic in bulk.  Founded in 2008, the council serves as a research and advocacy group, conducting and publishing studies on industry trends and offering educational tools and resources online.  The board includes industry leaders Hain Celestial, SunRidge Farms, Frontier Natural Products Co-Op, Trade Fixtures, and Lundberg Family Farms.  Additional information is available at BulkisGreen.org.

LITTLE ROCK, AR - The Bulk Is Green council wishes everyone a Happy Earth Day.  Remember bulk is a very easy, economical, and practical way that you can participate in saving resources in reducing your carbon footprint.

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