largest natural and organic food
superpower in the world, with
189 stores and revenue of $5.6
billion in its last fiscal year.
Not content to ride on this
reputation, in 2006 the company
made the largest renewable-energy
credit purchase in U.S. history,
becoming the only Fortune 500
business to offset all of its electricity
usage. For every light flicked on in
the produce department and every
oven fired up to bake organic-grain
breads, Whole Foods will invest in
wind technology. That’s 458,000
megawatt-hours of clean power
every year—the equivalent of
planting 90,000 acres of trees, or
yanking 60,000 cars off the road.
Some Whole Foods stores are
making even more direct commitments to renewable energy. The
Northwest locations are already
run entirely by wind power, while
the Berkeley, California, store
powers its lights primarily with
solar energy. In 2006, the EPA
recognized the company as a
“Green Power Partner” for all its
investments in clean energy.
12
GREEN MOUNTAIN ENERGY
AUSTIN, TEXAS
Since 1997, Green Mountain
Energy has allowed consumers to
purchase cleaner electricity and
help reduce the amount of carbon
dioxide released into the air each
year. In the past decade, its customers have created a demand for
13 new wind and solar facilities
across the country, an