Earth Day, established on April 22, 1970, marks a pivotal moment in environmental history, catalyzing global awareness and action on issues like pollution, conservation, and sustainability. It aims to inspire individuals and communities to protect and preserve our planet through education, advocacy, and grassroots initiatives. Locally, people can celebrate Earth Day by participating in clean-up events, planting trees, reducing waste, conserving energy, supporting eco-friendly businesses, and raising awareness about environmental issues. It’s a day to unite in our commitment to safeguarding Earth for current and future generations.
Earth Day is a great time to focus on environmental sustainability and conservation. Perishable food cargo shipping often involves significant energy consumption, emissions of greenhouse gases, and the use of resources such as water and packaging materials.
Here’s why Earth Day matters to perishable shippers:
- Environmental Impact: Shipping perishable food cargo, especially over long distances, contributes to carbon emissions and environmental degradation. Earth Day is a reminder to minimize this impact by adopting eco-friendly shipping practices, such as optimizing transportation routes, using energy-efficient refrigeration systems, and reducing packaging waste.
CFI’s Steps: Carbon emission regulations require safer refrigeration, keeping with local government requirements.
- Replacing old equipment with new as needed.
- Close proximity to all the airports we work with to keep routes short.
- Tracking all fuel and oil usage in our vehicles.
- Upgrading all the cooler motors and systems with more energy-efficient models when possible.
- Replacing all lights where possible, and many locations have automatic on and off when someone enters the location.
- Resource Conservation: Perishable food shipping requires resources like water for irrigation, fuel for transportation, and packaging materials for preservation. Earth Day encourages the conservation of these resources by promoting sustainable farming practices, efficient logistics operations, and innovative packaging solutions that minimize waste and resource consumption.
CFI’s Steps: We use biodegradable insulation on all shipments called Temp Endure.
- Designate all trash materials to a recycler company to sort out and recycle all trash products.
- Recycling for cardboard, paper, and waste products.
- Climate Change Mitigation: Transporting perishable food cargo contributes to climate change by releasing carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses. Earth Day advocates for measures to mitigate climate change by promoting the use of renewable energy sources, implementing emissions reduction strategies, and investing in carbon offset initiatives to neutralize the environmental impact of shipping activities.
CFI’s Steps: Our parent company tracks all usage of electricity, gas, water, fuel and paper consumption monthly to analyze areas of carbon consumption to work towards continual mitigation of the carbon footprint.
- Biodiversity Preservation: Agriculture and food production can adversely affect biodiversity through deforestation, habitat destruction, and chemical inputs. Earth Day highlights the importance of preserving biodiversity by promoting sustainable farming methods, protecting natural habitats, and supporting biodiversity-friendly supply chains that minimize negative impacts on ecosystems.
CFI’s Steps: Many of our customers are required to promote sustainability, and we also sign agreements to continue doing everything we have mentioned to help in that fight.
- Consumer Awareness: Earth Day raises awareness among consumers about the environmental footprint of the products they consume, including perishable food items. By making informed choices and supporting eco-conscious brands and retailers, consumers can contribute to reducing the environmental impact of food transportation and promoting sustainable practices throughout the supply chain.
CFI’s Steps: One of the largest ways we contribute is the timeliness of getting products quickly to the store retailer shelves and helping sustain the freshness of products shipped through our facilities.
The less waste by expired and spoiled products and ensuring freshness largely helps reduce product waste.
Earth Day is a global platform to advocate for environmental stewardship and sustainability in all aspects of human activity, including shipping perishable food cargo. By aligning shipping practices with the principles of Earth Day, stakeholders can work together to minimize environmental harm, conserve natural resources, and build a more sustainable future for future generations.
