Protecting and Restoring Our Natural Resources
Working with trusted partners to protect natural resources.
Our mission statement calls us to meet today’s needs while being mindful of what’s essential for tomorrow. To accomplish this, we support nonprofit organizations that focus on environmental sustainability initiatives, like water stewardship, ocean conservation, and reforestation. By working with experts, we can minimize our impact on the environment.
We collaborate with respected nonprofit organizations that work to protect, conserve, and restore our natural resources, such as the Arbor Day Foundation, FORCE BLUE, the National Audubon Society, and the National Park Foundation.
Rebuilding forests through the Good Together campaign.
Through our Good Together Environmental campaign, register donations from our customers and associates in Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia support tree planting efforts to rebuild forests affected by deforestation and natural disasters within these states through the Arbor Day Foundation. The campaign started in 2024 and has raised over $1.79 million total in our states outside of Florida. From these donations, we are able to expand our impact for vulnerable forests of great need within these states over the next few years. To date, over 1.7 million trees have already been planted in these critical ecosystems.
Restoring damaged watersheds and habitats.
Since 2016, Publix has donated a portion of the proceeds from the sale of reusable bags to plant trees in damaged and degraded watersheds throughout Florida. To date, these donations have supported the planting of 1.5 million trees across more than 2,300 acres of land in Florida. According to the Arbor Day Foundation, the trees it plants from our donations are estimated to help absorb and store more than 1.9 million metrics tons of carbon dioxide over the next 40 years.*
*Estimates reported by the Arbor Day Foundation, configured using USDA Forest Service i-Tree Tools over a 40-year outlook.
Water stewardship in the Everglades.
The Florida Everglades play an important role in the availability of fresh water. They are also home to a variety of native plants and wildlife. Invasive, non-native trees and plants are a serious threat to this natural resource. If left unchecked, these invasive species can disrupt our water supply and damage this valuable natural resource and habitat.
As part of our commitment to protect, conserve, and restore the Florida Everglades, we work with the National Park Foundation and the National Audubon Society to remove invasive trees and plants.
In 2021, we committed $2 million to support restoration efforts with these organizations in Audubon’s Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary and the saline glades region of Everglades National Park. These projects were completed in 2025, with our support helping to restore more than 1,300 acres of wetlands and an estimated 173 million gallons of water per year.
We donated an additional $1.13 million to help the National Audubon Society restore 250 more acres of wetlands in Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary.
Protecting rivers through community partnerships.
We are committed to expanding our sustainability efforts in the communities we serve, including our continued support of Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful’s Adopt‑a‑River‑Mile program. As a proud sponsor for the second consecutive year, Publix is helping protect the Tennessee River—one of the most biodiverse river systems in North America and home to many different plant and animal species across seven states. Of these seven states, six are in our operating area, including Tennessee, Alabama, Kentucky, Georgia, North Carolina, and Virginia. Through our sponsorship, we help provide resources for volunteers to keep river miles clean and healthy, reinforcing our ongoing commitment to sustainability and caring for the communities we serve. In 2025, river mile adoptees reported removing over 61,000 pounds of debris.
How Publix associates support local communities.
Additionally, Publix Serves is one of the many ways we invest in caring for our communities and the environment across the eight states we serve. What began in 2015 as a single day of giving back has grown into an annual tradition, now celebrated through two week‑long volunteer events each spring and fall. During these events, our associates come together to support local environmental projects and hunger‑relief efforts—demonstrating Publix’s ongoing commitment to protecting our shared natural spaces and strengthening the communities we call home.