Giant Eagle Commits to Reducing Its Water Consumption

PITTSBURGH — Giant Eagle Inc., operator of GetGo convenience stores, has made a commitment to reduce its water consumption by 5 percent by July 2017, resulting in the conservation of millions of gallons of water and expanding the company’s ongoing environmental stewardship.

"Giant Eagle has long been dedicated to conserving natural resources through the implementation of environmentally minded business practices," said Shelly Sponholz, senior vice president of real estate and development for Pittsburgh-based Giant Eagle.

Citing projections from the United Nations that demand for water will rise by an estimated 40 percent by 2050, Giant Eagle executed a five-month conservation program in eight pilot locations that collectively exceeded a 5-percent water savings. As a result, all corporate-operated Giant Eagle supermarkets will be retrofitted with water conservation equipment by June 30 of this year.

In addition to the conservation efforts being put in place throughout its supermarkets, Giant Eagle's WetGo car wash locations also utilize water reclamation systems in order to make quality car washing more environmentally friendly. A single car wash at WetGo uses approximately 50 percent fewer gallons of fresh water than typical car washes, according to the retailer.

Giant Eagle is also dedicated to reducing its carbon footprint through various sustainability initiatives, including plastic recycling programs and solar roofing technology, while its customers have helped the company save more than 50 miles of register paper by selecting eReceipts at checkout. Since the option launched in January, eReceipts have offset more than 400,000 paper receipts.

To help celebrate the achievement, Giant Eagle is donating $1 for every eReceipt issued during this month's commemoration of Earth Day, or $1,000, to local parks in Pittsburgh, Cleveland and Columbus.

Giant Eagle's other noteworthy energy solutions include:

• 12 LEED-certified retail locations;
• Conversion of nearly half of its distribution fleet to CNG (compressed natural gas) powered vehicles;
• Recycles more than 700 tons of plastic bags annually;
• Solar roofing technology utilized at select store locations; and
• Coupling solar array technologies with white roofs, which generates significant energy savings.

Between all its solar-equipped stores, Giant Eagle saves approximately 750,000 kilowatt-hours per year by utilizing new solar technologies. The company also purchases renewable energy certificates that equate to 21 million kilowatt-hours of renewable energy annually.

Giant Eagle is one of the nation’s largest food retailers and distributors with approximately $9.6 billion in annual sales. It operates a total of 418 convenience store and supermarket locations throughout western Pennsylvania, north central Ohio, northern West Virginia and Maryland.