Trader Joe’s markets itself as a friendly neighborhood grocer but is that true?

As for its climate record, Trader Joe’s refrigeration is leaking potent super-pollutant gases, hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), into the atmosphere and accelerating the climate crisis. It received the lowest score on Environmental Investigation Agency’s Climate-Friendly Supermarket Scorecard and entered into a settlement with the U.S. government over its alleged violation of the Clean Air Act for leaking refrigerant greenhouse gases.

On top of that, most companies are becoming MORE transparent, but Trader Joe’s is sharing next to no information about its sourcing and operations with the public. What is Trader Joe’s hiding? Trader Joe’s sustainability report? It’s just a blog post. And, we think you and the planet deserve more than that!

Tell Trader Joe’s to take action on climate and labor.

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Tell Trader Joe's: Don’t Discount Our Futures

Mr.

Dan

Bane

Trader Joe's

Ms.

Sara

Train

Trader Joe's

Mr.

Matt

Sloan

Trader Joe's

I am concerned about your company’s lack of transparency and am left wondering what you are hiding from the public. Failure to disclose information does not absolve your company of responsibility; it only shows a lack of respect for workers, consumers, civil society, and other stakeholders.

Child labor and deforestation have been well-documented in the cocoa sector for decades, but it seems Trader Joe’s has done very little to address the risk of child labor and deforestation in the chocolate it sources. Refrigerant management and the elimination of potent refrigerant gases, like HFCs and ozone-depleting substances, are critical solutions to the climate crisis. HFCs are commonly used in Trader Joe’s stores and have thousands of times the global warming potential of CO2. The EPA and DOJ have entered into a settlement with Trader Joe’s regarding its refrigerant leaks that were alleged to be in violation of the Clean Air Act. Yet there is no public record of your company making progress to reduce its leak rates or adopt sustainable, climate-friendly refrigerants.

Trader Joe’s should:

Chocolate & Labor:

- Increase transparency; publicly disclose the 1st & 2nd tiers of its chocolate supply chain.

- Require all cocoa suppliers sourcing out of West Africa to use a Child Labor Monitoring and Remediation System.

- Issue an annual sustainability report, describing how it is supporting a sustainable chocolate industry & what indicators are used to measure success of their efforts.

- Increase compensation for cocoa farmers & disclose how Trader Joe’s is supporting efforts to pay cocoa farmers a living income.

- Support the call for US & EU mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence regulation.

- Commit to no deforestation by 2022 throughout the entire supply chain & develop a robust agroforestry policy, particularly for areas deforested due to industry practices, including where cocoa is grown in West Africa.

- Respect workers’ rights from those in your stores to those at the end of the supply chain. This includes stopping any anti-union behavior. Ensure workers in the supply chain have proper PPE, hazard pay, & paid sick leave in the time of COVID-19 and thereafter.

HFCs & Climate:

- Submit annual greenhouse gas emissions data, including HFC emissions, to the Carbon Disclosure Project & share science-based targets to reach carbon neutral operations.

- Commit to achieving a companywide average refrigerant leak rate below 10% and report annual progress on a public platform.

- Commit to phase out HFCs from all operations & facilities by 2030 & set measurable interim targets to achieve this goal.

- Commit to installing only HFC-free systems in all new stores, facilities, or major retrofits using only ultra-low GWP refrigerants.

- Issue a detailed annual sustainability report listing progress on the above goals & other methods to increase energy efficiency and reduce the overall climate impact of Trader Joe’s refrigeration systems.

Sincerely,
{user_data~First Name} {user_data~Last Name}

Cool It for the Climate

Trader Joe's: Don't Discount Our Future

Trader Joe’s received one of the worst scores on Green America’s retailer chocolate scorecard; it shares very little information about what they are doing to address child labor and deforestation in the chocolate from which it profits.

Trader Joe’s markets itself as a friendly neighborhood grocer but is that true?

Sign the Petition

By taking this action, you'll be signed up for Green America's action alerts, updates, and green living tips. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Tell Trader Joe's: Don’t Discount Our Futures

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