Bottled water… it’s the trendy thing to do. At least the bottled water industry has taken advantage of it, becoming a $14.4 billion market. Read full article on boxed water.
How has green found its way into restaurants? Just a few weeks ago, we wrote a post highlighting Forage in Los Angeles, a unique new concept based entirely on cooking and serving foods grown from local farmers and amateur green thumbs…Read the rest on growing local here.
This is an ongoing series to help our clients reap the benefits of going green. Yes, when done correctly, setting a balanced environmental mentality can actually save you money. Yes, one can go overboard on such things and it becomes counterproductive. However, the right mix of ecology can profit a restaurant business handsomely.
We hear about recycling all the time. In many cases the prospects are outweighed by the costs and efforts. However, there are little ways to make recycling not only worthwhile, but profitable and promotable…your restaurant business could be praised by the community for its efforts. Good will is good business.
Recycling does not have to be a complicated process. Some communities offer curbside pickup programs for common recyclables and you recycle using drop-off centers, buy-back programs or deposit systems.
Typical materials to recycle include:
• Newspapers
• Paper bags, paper carry out drink trays
• Office paper
• Old corrugated cardboard
• Metal food containers
• Aluminum cans and foil wrap
• Milk cartons/jugs
• Juice cartons
• Glass bottles and jars
• Plastic bottles, cutlery, straws, butter containers
• Film plastics — plastic wrap, plastic shopping bags
• All beverage containers
• Bottle caps
• Styrofoam
Not-so-typical goods that are also recyclable include:
• Fluorescent light bulbs
• Cooking oil, grease
• Cell phones
• Acid and NiCd batteries
• Uniforms
• Used furniture and appliances
• Computer equipment, ink cartridges
One of the first things to offer your customers are signs or other postings to inform them what you are doing and how it helps the community.
Generating good will always proves to be good business.
To Your Restaurant Success…
Dean Small and Danny Bendas Synergy Restaurant Consultants
Energy Efficiency
Synergy Green
This is an ongoing series to help our clients reap the benefits of going green. Yes, when done correctly, setting a balanced environmental mentality can actually save you money. Yes, one can go overboard on such things and it becomes counterproductive. However, the right mix of ecology can profit a restaurant business handsomely.
Keep your restaurant business EEQ (energy efficiency quotient) in mind as you remodel or build. Use green-smart materials and green strategies that save energy inside and out.
Landscaping — Add greenery around your restaurant business to absorb heat and lower temperatures around your building. Plant drought resistant native or adapted trees and plants so you water less. Use recycled mulch to retain water around plants. Create a green roof of plants to insulate against cold and hot temperatures, absorb energy and reduce water flow.
There are many things you can do and still have a great looking facility.
To Your Success…
Dean Small and Danny Bendas
Why Compost?
Synergy Green
This is an ongoing series to help our clients reap the benefits of going green. ( Read part 1 ) Yes, when done correctly, setting a balanced environmental mentality can actually save you money. Yes, one can go overboard on such things and it becomes counterproductive. However, the right mix of ecology can profit a restaurant business handsomely.
Non-edible food scraps — plate scrapings, fruit and vegetable peelings, stale baked goods or spoiled foods — do not need to be dumped or washed down garbage disposals.
Instead, your restaurant business can compost, turning food throwaways and biodegradable products into organically decomposed material used for growing plants and conditioning lawns and gardens.
Composting or biological decomposition is a natural form of recycling that occurs when organic material decomposes (or composts) to form organic fertilizer. Compost is created by taking organic wastes — food leftovers, yard trimmings, biodegradable products — in proper ratios into piles, rows or vessels and adding bulking agents to accelerate the breakdown of organic materials.
Composting is also a process that can transform wasted food into an environmentally-useful commodity. For example, in San Francisco, kitchen trimmings, plate scrapings and compostable material from over 2,000 restaurants businesses are composted each day. Instead of 300 tons of restaurant food waste going into landfills, a composting operation turns the restaurant garbage into premium, high-priced compost sold to California vineyards.
If you choose to compost, you will help improve our environment by providing organic materials that enhance the soil, help reduce pollution caused by the incineration of waste, and improve water-holding capacity. But most importantly, by composting, you help remove tons of waste from waste stream and water treatment plants and divert reusable organic matter from landfills.
To Your Success…
Dean Small & Danny Bendas
Synergy Green
This is an ongoing series to help our clients reap the benefits of going green. Yes, when done correctly, setting a balanced environmental mentality can actually save you money. Yes, one can go overboard on such things and it becomes counterproductive. However, the right mix of ecology can profit a restaurant business handsomely.
No, we don’t expect any restaurant business to make radical changes overnight. But if you post just a few items and build a new habit with your employees, savings start showing.
Turn off lights and appliances when not in use. Don’t forget about:
To Your Success…
Dean Small and Danny Bendas
It might be easier to be green than to talk about it. Many restaurant managers are afraid of being accused of “greenwashing” or otherwise bragging and being insincere in their efforts to have a more eco-friendly business model. As a result, few chains are marketing their legitimate green and sustainable efforts to their consumers. Instead of touting their various conservation steps in their ads, or even on Facebook, many individual restaurants and chains are keeping their green playing cards close to their organic fiber fabric vests, opting to let customers discover the sustainability on their own…or through the enthusiasm of employees.
If you seek subtle ways to promote and market your restaurants eco friendly strategy and become ‘green seal’ certified give us a call, our Restaurant Marketing team has their finger on the pulse of this movement.
