Rashi Shah
Catherine Park
Avi Desai
Michael Fisher
Brayan Builes
Rutgers Business School
Carmen L Bonilla
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The George Street Co-op’s mission is to have an important and meaningful impact on individuals and society by its contribution to sustainability by “Advancing the World of Health”. The company's culture values employees’ and customers' health and safety through health initiatives and development. The George Street Co-op strives to promote healthier personal lifestyles and sustainable awareness of the environment.
As described in an interview with the general manager Jack, their innovation goes beyond just providing healthier alternatives for the community but its mission is to work cooperatively with the community instead of exploiting the environment's properties for monetary gain. This is done through the products that The George St Co-op has to offer. In every product sold there is no high fructose corn syrup, all products are 100% organic, and they value all non GMO products over any GMO products.
This innovative approach of providing the community with a way to reduce their footprint and cooperate effectively with the environment has been their mission since 1973.
The motivation behind this was to cooperate with our environment and the people who make it up instead of exploiting its resources for personal gain. The George St Co-op prides themselves on the community they have created consisting of members all with the same intent of bettering the environment.
The Co-op’s innovation has impacted many aspects of the business. They have gained more volunteers and members as a result of their modeling their environmentally friendly ways. They have also been able to spread the word about being more environmentally cautious, and finding healthy alternatives to many meals that the common public may not be thinking twice about.
One of the short term effects of this business has been on the environment. “There’s pretty much consensus at the co-op that global warming is the biggest issue," says Jack. They have made it a point to reduce their environmental impact. “In the past year, we’ve switched all our fluorescent lights to LED”, reducing energy consumption of their store practically by half. They have also started using induction cookers for their hot products, such as soup. Lastly, they have upgraded their air conditioning unit into one that is more environmentally efficient.
They have also drastically reduced their energy consumption. And, they are going for more: “A long term goal we have is to make our refrigerators more efficient”.
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Jack, General Manager
