Fresh & Easy to recycle holiday gift cards

Green post-holidays at Fresh & Easy stores

Taking a page from its parent company's Tesco branded stores in the United Kingdom (U.K.), Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Markets in the USA is placing drop boxes in its 27 stores in Southern California, Arizona and Nevada, where customers can put gift cards for recycling.

The proceeds from the sale of the gift cards will be donated by Tesco's Fresh & Easy to American Forests, a non-profit organization that plants trees in restoration areas throughout the United States. for every dollar donated, American Forests will plant one tree, the group says.

Read more about Fresh & Easy's gift card recycling program here and here.

Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market has said a key aspect of its positioning as a food retailer in the U.S. is to be a "green" or environmental grocer. The gift card recycling program is just one of the many similar programs the retailer says it will do on a regular basis under its "green grocer" commitment.

Tesco's supermarkets and other format retail stores in the U.K. also are recycling gift cards and donating the proceeds from the sale of the cards to non-profit organizations.

One question: We didn't see anything on Fresh & Easy's news release about the grocer making a matching donation of any kind to American Forests? We're checking on that with the retailer--and will get back to you with their answer. Of course, if you know--let us know.