Compared to the mega-mammoth Big Box Wal-Mart, Whole Foods Market is barely a blip on the radar screen. It maintains a presence in over half of the U.S. States as well as a number of cities in Canada and the United Kingdom, but you certainly won’t find one on every other city block.

That doesn’t mean that Whole Foods Market doesn’t feel a sense of responsibility for its planet and those who inhabit it though.  They take their carbon footprint very seriously in fact. The chain was founded on the principles of healthy, earth-friendly eating.  Whole Foods carries a wide range of natural and organic food products.  Their committment is evident in their core values:  to sell “the highest quality natural and organic products available.”

They extended their commitment to the far corners of the earth when the company launched its “Feed 100 Bag” last year.  This promotional tote bag bears the logo “Feed the Children of the World.”  The tote bag, exclusively designed for Whole Foods Markets, retails for $30. Ten dollars from the sale of each bag goes to feed children in the war-torn country of Rwanda. The proceeds of one Feed 100 promotional tote bag are enough to feed one hundred Rwandan school children.

The Feed 100 program is administered in Rwanda by the United Nations World Food Program’s School Feeding Program.  It services 300 schools in the poorest areas of Rwanda and has served thousands of meals to school children since the program began in 2003.

Aside from the obvious benefits of the Feed 100 program, the Feed 100 bag itself promotes conservation and green responsibility.  The promotional tote bag is made from earth-friendly organic cotton.  It’s large enough to hold slightly more groceries than the average plastic grocery bag. It is, of course, much stronger than a typical plastic shopping bag, which makes your shopping experience convenient as well as green. 

Small retailers like Whole Foods Market are proving that conservation is everyone’s responsibility.  They’re living proof that even small companies can set an example to customers and the public in general by promoting reusable shopping bags.