DVIDS – News – EARTH DAY – APRIL 22: Commissaries reflect on processes, products to help protect the environment year round
By Jessica Rouse, DeCA public affairs specialist
NOTE: Watch https://vimeo.com/1076542111/dbb18de0a5.
FORT LEE, Va. – The Defense Commissary Agency (DeCA) continues its lengthy-standing dedication to minimizing its environmental footprint. As Earth Day approaches on April 22, the company is reflecting on the initiatives taken to protect the environment.
“It’s our responsibility to ensure that our agency and our customers have access to processes and products that help protect our environment and shrink the carbon footprint,” mentioned Steven Edlavitch, DeCA engineer.
DeCA’s environmental program emphasizes waste discount, useful resource conservation and group assist.
“DeCA’s Environmental Management System (EMS) is not separate from daily work,” Edlavitch mentioned. “The components of the system are embedded in the core functions of operating a commissary. From waste handling to energy use and product stocking, these environmental practices are standard operating procedures.”
To advance sustainability, DeCA has carried out a multi-faceted technique that features decreasing power and water consumption in its amenities by means of sensible know-how, infrastructure upgrades and lengthy-time period planning.
The company makes use of pc-managed heating, air flow and air con methods that function at decrease power ranges throughout off-peak hours. Additionally, DeCA employs warmth-reclaim know-how to seize and repurpose power from compressor racks elsewhere in the retailer, optimizing power use additional.
“Refrigeration, a major energy consumer, has been a key focus,” Edlavitch mentioned. “We’ve installed glass doors on refrigeration units, incorporated new rack technologies to reduce energy consumption and replaced older systems with modern equipment that uses low global-warming-potential natural refrigerants.”
DeCA has additionally adopted water-saving measures. These embody repairing leaks, putting in low-movement plumbing fixtures and leveraging different water-environment friendly applied sciences. Over the final twenty years, these efforts have resulted in vital financial savings – a 34-p.c discount in water utilization.
DeCA integrates inexperienced constructing practices into new and renovated amenities to improve sustainability and power effectivity. These embody prioritizing pure mild, putting in power-environment friendly LED lighting, and utilizing movement sensors and pc-managed methods to scale back electrical energy use in unoccupied areas.
Solar panels have been put in at two areas, Los Angeles, California, and Ansbach, Germany, with plans for growth, supporting the company’s purpose of a resilient power provide. Additionally, some shops characteristic low-upkeep flooring, which minimizes the want for chemical substances, water and power-intensive upkeep gear.
To guarantee continued progress, DeCA conducts power and water audits at its amenities each 4 years, focusing on the prime 75 p.c of the company’s power use. The company’s annual purpose is to scale back power depth by 2.5 p.c.
In addition to power conservation, DeCA focuses on recycling and decreasing meals waste. In fiscal year 2025, the company recycled 86.7 million kilos of fabric, attaining a diversion charge of 56.4 p.c. Since fiscal 2005, DeCA has recycled greater than 4.3 billion kilos of fabric.
DeCA’s meals donation program additional minimizes waste by offering edible however unsellable meals products to native meals banks. In fiscal 2025, the company donated over 5 million kilos of meals, and since the program’s inception in 2012, DeCA has donated greater than 52 million kilos.
Edlavitch highlighted the varieties of gadgets eligible for donation, noting they usually embody products with beauty injury to packaging.
“As long as the military food inspectors deem a salvageable dry item, we can donate it,” he mentioned. “This allows us to service food banks that assist families in need while diverting even more waste from our waste stream.”
Edlavitch emphasised the vast-reaching impression of DeCA’s environmental initiatives.
“The first benefit is environmental stewardship,” he mentioned. “The core purpose is to reduce the agency’s footprint. Diverting millions of pounds of waste from landfills, conserving energy and water, and transitioning to cleaner energy help protect the environment for future generations.”
The packages additionally yield monetary and operational benefits. Revenue from recycling efforts contributes thousands and thousands of {dollars} to DeCA’s surcharge fund, which helps retailer development, renovations and gear upgrades. Meanwhile, financial savings from lowered power and water consumption decrease operational prices.
Community assist is one other important element of those initiatives, Edlavitch famous.
“The food donation program demonstrates our commitment to the communities we serve by redirecting edible food to help families struggling with food insecurity,” he mentioned. “This is especially important for communities near military installations.”
DeCA additionally conducts strategic power assessments to establish alternatives for modernization. By analyzing components corresponding to insulation and gear efficiency, the company has created a roadmap for focused sustainability investments.
Commissaries are additionally making it simpler for patrons to dwell sustainably. Stores supply environmentally pleasant products corresponding to natural produce, power-saving mild bulbs, excessive-effectivity laundry and cleansing products, and lowered-packaging gadgets like paper towels and loo tissue.
Additionally, DeCA options Full Circle Market, a commissary retailer model devoted to sustainability. According to the model’s web site, Full Circle Market products use all-pure substances and are farmed with out chemical therapies or processing practices that hurt biodiversity.
“Investing in intelligent supermarket technology delivers a triple win: enhanced operational efficiency, a superior customer experience and the actionable data we need to make smarter decisions,” Edlavitch mentioned.
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About DeCA: The Defense Commissary Agency operates a worldwide chain of commissaries offering groceries to army personnel, retirees, disabled veterans and different licensed employers and their households in a protected and safe buying environment. Commissaries present hundreds of army advantages, saving licensed patrons of {dollars} yearly on their purchases in contrast to comparable products at business retailers. The discounted costs embody a 5-p.c surcharge, which helps the prices of constructing, modernizing and sustaining commissary amenities. A core army household assist factor and valued a part of army pay and advantages, commissaries contribute to household readiness, improve the high quality of life for America’s army providers and their households, and help recruit and retain the finest and brightest women and men to serve their nation.
