S U S T A I N A B I L I T Y
8
Winter 2014 Issue
Going Green:
What it Means for Restaurants
Historically, restaurant owners’ primary
goal has been to “make green” rather
than run a “green” operation. Yet over
the past decade, the overall business
mission of many restaurants has evolved
to include doing both simultaneously.
The grassroots environmental movement
that began a half century ago has
increasingly become a group effort
propelled by real action in the restaurant
industry—which is a good thing.
According to the National Restaurant
Association (NRA), of the 80 billion
pounds of food wasted each year in the
United States, 29.6 billion pounds is
pouring from restaurant garbage cans.
Such startling numbers have created
a concerted desire among operators
to take better care of the Earth’s
natural resources, and as a result, their
businesses have gained the support of
local municipalities, state and national
restaurant associations, and customers,
too. From operators to suppliers to
distributors, growers and ranchers, every
link in the food chain is asking, “How
can we operate in a manner that serves
our customers effectively, earns us a
return and benefits the planet?”
It wasn’t so long ago that a “green”
operation merely recycled its waste; a really
green one composted its food scraps. But
today a truly green operation goes much
further. It sources responsibly by buying
products made close to the restaurant
in order to reduce energy spent hauling
those edibles to the door. The owner buys
compostable to-go containers and monitors
energy and water use to track long-term
trends. Facility lighting is energy efficient,
food and drink packaging is minimized, and
recycled and spent fryer oil is reclaimed
for new uses. (Memories of the days when
operators paid to have old fryer oil hauled
away seem quaint and a little humorous
now.) Optimally, its equipment is modern
and uses less power, and its staff is careful
to run ovens and exhaust hoods only when
necessary. And, yes, its food scraps are
composted and sent to local farmers and
chefs’ onsite gardens.
Clearly the above is an ideal situation,
a goal that’s challenging to reach and
currently achieved by just a few restaurant
companies, but more are getting there
and even more aspire to such goals.
Sustainability and green thinking
doesn’t always materialize quickly.
