Roots and Shoots brings Climate Action Plan to local businesses
Cub Foods signs pledge in support of club, Climate Action Plan
The Cub Foods in St. Louis Park pledged to comply with the Climate Action Plan. It is the only company to have signed the pledge as of Feb. 19.
February 21, 2019
According to sophomore Roots and Shoots member Zoe Frank, Roots and Shoots has been campaigning the Climate Action Plan to local businesses.
“(Since) the passing of the Climate Action Plan — which has a goal of getting St. Louis Park carbon neutral by 2040 — we have gone and spoken to businesses about helping to reduce their emissions because we can’t do it without businesses contributing,” Frank said.
According to Roots and Shoots leader senior Katie Christiansen, it is crucial to have the support of businesses for the success of the Climate Action Plan.
“The government can only do so much to force corporations to reduce their emissions, so it’s really important that we enforce this positive relationship and that reducing emissions doesn’t have to be costly and a big hassle,” Christiansen said.
Frank said Roots and Shoots wrote a pledge for businesses to sign to show their support for the Climate Action Plan.
“That pledge right now does not ask anything too aggressive of them, like to completely stop emitting carbon,” Frank said. “It asks that they start attending events to learn about the steps they can take toward doing that.”
“So far Cub Foods is the only business that we’ve had a solid response from, but hopefully we’ll see more businesses signing our pledge to start learning about what they can do. From there hopefully the path will become clearer to a carbon neutral St. Louis Park,” Frank said.According to Frank, Cub Foods has signed the pledge, and Roots and Shoots is optimistic for more businesses to show interest in the programs the Climate Action Plan has to offer.
According to Joey Slack, assistant store director of the St. Louis Park West End Cub Foods, the store is devoted to building a sustainable business and community.
“We signed (the pledge) because one of the three pillars that Cub stands for is serving our community, and there’s no doubt that we want to be as sustainable as possible,” Slack said. “So when we got approached asking about a pledge that we would basically commit to running a more sustainable store, it just made sense that we would do that.”
Christiansen said abiding by the Climate Action Plan can be profitable for businesses.
“We have started the initial process of reaching out to businesses,” Christiansen said. “We are trying to connect with them and let them know that the Climate Action Plan has programs for them and can actually benefit their business economically, like fuel reducing emissions.”
Christiansen said student support influences the businesses’ decision to sign the pledge.
“It’s really valuable to have other students there with us when we talk to the businesses because they really see that it’s something that’s important to you and you care about it. It makes them that much more excited about it,” Christiansen said.
According to Slack, Cub Foods signed the pledge because of the initiative students have shown in improving their community.
“When we got approached, it was a high schooler. Seeing someone in high school taking such an interest in trying to help the environment, I think that is absolutely amazing,” Slack said. “That’s why we decided to sign the pledge, because it’s pretty rare you find a young group of people that’s interested in making a change like that.”
