Mike’s Mighty Good Ramen’s Sustainability
If you’re already a fan of Mike’s Mighty Good noodles, you know that these are ridiculously high-quality craft noodles. We take a lot of pride in our ingredients, and in our steamed, not fried cooking process. When you open a packet of our noodles, you’re getting the next best thing to ramen bar noodles.
But Mike’s is about more than just wholesome, simple ingredients and a craft cooking method. We believe that how you make your noodles is just as important as what’s inside them. Here’s what you need to know.
Sustainability – The Key to Our Future
It’s no secret that climate change is reshaping our world. People first started recording reliable temperature records in the middle of the 1800s. Since then, global average temperatures have risen by between 1.1°C and 1.7°C higher than preindustrial levels.
At Mike’s, we believe it’s our responsibility to take real action to fight climate change. Instead of buying carbon credits, we’ve built our own solar power system to power our ramen factory. Today, Mike’s Mighty Good ramen is produced using nearly 100% renewable energy. You can sink your teeth into our noodles guilt-free, secure in the knowledge that they’re part of the solution to climate change and are taking massive amounts of carbon out of the atmosphere. The only warming you’ll be doing with us is warming up your noodles!
A Massive Solar Array
So, how much solar power are we talking about? In raw numbers, our solar system has a capacity of 1.35MW. Located in sunny California, it can run at peak efficiency most of the time, and it’s expected to put out 2 million kWh of power every year (estimate from the National Renewable Energy Lab PV Watts Calculator).
Unless you’re an electrical engineer, that probably doesn’t tell you much. Here’s another number, to put things in perspective: we’re producing enough green energy to power more than 1,700 average California homes, according to PG&E’s average usage numbers. More to the point, we’re not just producing the bare minimum green energy to meet our needs. On a good day, we’re actually producing excess green energy.
In total, our solar array is expected to displace more than 1 million pounds of CO2 emissions per year, according to PG&E’s emissions numbers. According to the EPA, that’s the equivalent emissions of driving more than 1,200,000 miles in an average gas-powered vehicle!
Sustainable Supply Lines
Of course, the noodle factory itself is only part of our energy usage. Another big part of our energy use is transportation. Think about it. The noodles have to be sourced, and they have to be shipped out to our customers.
If we wanted to do things cheaply, we’d do what a lot of companies have done: outsource our production to another overseas country.
Instead, Mike’s Mighty Good noodles are produced from scratch in Northern California. That way, there’s far less shipping to be done and the carbon footprint of each ramen noodle cup or pillow pack you enjoy is much lower than it would be with imported noodles. Once the noodles are prepped and packaged, they’re already right here in the U.S. It’s that much closer to your door, which means significantly less emissions from shipping.
Sustainable Ingredients
Sustainability is about more than reducing carbon emissions. It’s about taking a responsible approach towards the environment in general.
At Mike’s Mighty Good, we don’t just want to use green energy; we want our business practices to be healthy for the planet. To that end, we use only organic ingredients for our noodles and oil. Organic ingredients are made without chemical fertilizers, pesticides, or GMOs. This costs a little bit more, but it’s much better for the environment and for you.
Sustainable Packaging
According to the EPA, the U.S. uses 3 million tons of Styrofoam packaging each year. When you think about how lightweight Styrofoam is, it becomes obvious that 3 million tons is a lot of Styrofoam. Though Styrofoam is a cheap packaging choice for companies, it’s not a good choice for our planet. Styrofoam takes over 500 years to decompose and can, in the process, leach harmful chemicals and toxic pollutants into the environment.
Due to the harmful effects of Styrofoam on our planet and our health, many cities and countries have recently banned the commercial use of Styrofoam. These include California, Seattle, Washington, Manila, Philippines, Toronto, Canada, Paris, France, Portland Oregon, and Taiwan. The U.S. EPA also recently labeled Styrofoam a carcinogen.
Mike’s Mighty Good ramen cups aren’t made from Styrofoam. Instead, they’re made from a durable paper that’s sourced from Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) certified sustainably-managed forests.
Conclusion
At Mike’s Mighty Good, we go out of our way to create an environmentally-responsible ramen. With our new solar array, our facilities run on nearly 100% green energy. With our U.S.-based production, we don’t waste energy on unnecessary overseas shipping. Meanwhile, we use organic ingredients for the sake of the environment, and our packaging is made from sustainably managed forests. That’s why you can feel good about eating our noodles!
