April 23, 2024 — In 2023, Publix celebrated a major milestone with our 1-millionth tree planted in Florida through our collaboration with the Arbor Day Foundation. The donations that make these tree plantings possible come from a portion of Publix’s reusable bag sales.

“Publix is thankful for the many customers and associates who have pledged their support to these environmental efforts by purchasing Publix reusable bags,” said Publix Director of Environmental and Sustainability Programs Michael Hewett. “This is a perfect example of how much of an impact we can make when we do good, together.”

Recent plantings and future plans

Earlier this year, our funding supported the planting of an additional 250,000 trees in the Econfina Creek watershed, a once-thriving forest ecosystem in the Florida Panhandle that was devastated by Hurricane Michael in 2018. Trees planted from reusable bag donations help restore critical wildlife habitats and protect watersheds by reducing runoff, which stabilizes the soil to prevent erosion and allows more water to be filtered, reach aquifers and ultimately become drinking water. These recent plantings bring us to 680,000 trees planted in just this watershed, with 1.25 million trees planted in Florida.

We are expanding our reforestation efforts through our Good Together environmental campaign to include Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. The campaign runs April 19 – 28, 2024. 

Learn more about our sustainability initiatives

Visit our Sustainability page at sustainability.publix.com.