Checkers is known for many things – epic marketing that gives us a good chuckle (their recent Eskom-plicated category on the Sixty60 app is a must-see), grocery assortments brought straight to our doors, and now renewable energy inspiration.
Also read: Checkers releases ‘Eskom-plicated’ category and we’re laughing in the dark
Recently, Checkers Sitari (near Somerset West) has become South African first by becoming the first supermarket in the country to harness renewable energy completely as its power source.
Using wind and solar sources, thee Sitari Village Mall Checkers’ has taken its tongue-in-cheek jesting with Eskom to a place of compromise, using SA’s complicated power utility to bring change.
The power is divided between a solar system (635kWp) providing 35% of its power while 65% is derived from an Eskom wind plant constituting 1752 Mwh as part of Eskom’s Renewable Engery Tarrif (RET) programme.
“This is enough to power the entire centre, including the Checkers supermarket, entirely on renewables,” said the Shoprite group.
Forming part of Checkers’ first environmental campaign, there are other exciting prospects for the supermarket superhero. According to the Shoprite group, these include:
- Recycling tons of cardboard and plastic,
- Using recycled content in packaging,
- Reducing food and plastic waste,
- Sourcing products with sustainably sourced ingredients, and
- Increasingly using renewable electricity.
Shoprite Group Sustainability Manager, Sanjeev Raghubir says: “The commitment to renewable energy is part of Checkers’ wider climate change strategy, which acknowledges that climate change will, directly and indirectly, impact our business and the communities we are a part of. Therefore, we commit to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, continuously improve energy efficiency, and strengthen the resilience and adaptive capacity of our operations and that of our communities.”
Hopefully, Checkers’ can show other food giants what is not only possible but necessary in active commitment toward a more eco-friendly South Africa.
Also read:
Table Mountain National Park receives generous funding in biodiversity initiative!
Picture: Shoprite Holdings