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Welcome to Sustainability Central

bg-sign-125x125Sustainability at Burgerville starts with community. We all have a stake in the future, and all of us collectively can do a lot more good than any one of us. That’s why we’ve created this space to share our sustainable journey, invite your ideas and participation, and learn out loud together as we go.

Please join in the conversation.

Where do we want to be in 50 years?

New Compostable Soda Cups and Lids Launch at Burgerville

by Alison – on February 10, 2010 Comments

Now you can compost soda cups at Burgerville

We’re giddy with excitement here at Burgerville today with the official launch of our new, commercially compostable soda cups – especially since we’re the first restaurant chain of our type in the nation to launch them company-wide!

The launch of Burgerville’s new, compostable ecotainer® soft drink cups and lids, in cooperation with our sustainability colleagues at International Paper and Coca-Cola, represents the last major component of our packaging waste stream to go compostable.  The program isn’t perfect yet, and we still have a few non-recyclable or compostable challenges ahead of us, like plastic and foil ketchup and dressing packs, but the soda cups were the last big component to divert out of the landfill!

The hands-on participation and feedback from everyone who eats and works in our restaurants is what really brings our composting, recycling and sustainable packaging system to life. It’s a work in progress, so we’re interested in hearing what you think. What’s working about the program? What’s not working? What ideas do you have to make it easier for more people in our region and in the world to reduce waste and make a difference together by composting and recycling all we can?

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Dr. Temple Grandin Endorses Country Natural Beef

by Alison – on February 05, 2010 Comments

Open pasture land of Country Nat. Beef

One of the great pleasures of my work is spending quality time with the local ranchers and farmers who produce food for the Burgerville table. Twice a year, the family rancher-owners who make up the Country Natural Beef cooperative, and who produce all of Burgerville’s 100% natural beef, come together and Burgerville gets to participate. The ranchers start and close their business meetings in one big circle, and each ranching man, woman and child has an equal voice. They make all of their business decisions by consensus and from a shared vision of raising their animals in harmony with the land.

Pause with me and imagine this — a circle of independent, strong willed, western ranchers, sitting together in a circle, listening to each other, young and old, and making consensus decisions for the common good of their coop, the environment, their animals and their customers. It’s the purest demonstration of democracy-in-action I’ve ever experienced!

Over the past year, Burgerville has been collaborating with Country Natural Beef, Food Alliance, New Seasons Market and others on a next generation of animal welfare standards, as Country Natural Beef continuously improves and leads the industry. The cooperative has also…

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Can One Person Really Make a Difference in Haiti?

by Alison – on January 25, 2010 Comments

Yesterday the Associated Press reported over 150,000 victims have been buried since a 7.0 earthquake shook the island nation of Haiti almost two weeks ago. When a disaster’s toll reaches such a large scale, my mind struggles to come to terms with what’s happened. I go through a series of personal aftershocks, trying to find meaning in the chaos, and to put faces to the numbers. Today I did this calculation:

If the world observed a minute of silence to honor each of the 150,000 confirmed lives lost, our silence would last over 104 days.

If we honored each life lost with an hour of silence, our mourning would span over 17 years.

As the full magnitude of what has happened sinks in, it can feel impossible that I, as just one person, can make any sort of meaningful impact in the face of such devastating loss.

This morning I read an article about 7 year old Charlie Simpson who raised over $100,000 for Haiti by organizing a bike-a-thon. What I’m learning from Charlie is that one person really can make a world changing difference, and that it is through embracing our power as individuals and using our gifts for the common good that…

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