Cool It for the Climate

Trader Joe’s: Baby steps on climate change aren’t enough

Trader Joe’s announced last year its new stores would not use super-polluting greenhouse gas HFCs in its refrigeration systems. That’s good, but there are still over 500 stores using HFCs, so Trader Joe’s needs to take the big step of switching all its store to protect the communities it serves.

It is troubling that Trader Joe’s is not taking more steps to tackle climate change. Climate change is having negative consequences and many of those impacts hurt marginalized communities the hardest. Take action by:

• 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%.

• Commit to phase out HFCs from all operations & facilities by 2030 & set measurable interim targets.

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