Green Dining Net Blog

Lowering Food Costs AND Helping the Environment?

According to Restaurant News Resource, a Green Dining Best Practices program was unveiled through the EDF (Environmental Defense Fund) and the Restaurant Association. It consisted of scientific based recommendations for food service. Two RA clients-Random House and Hearst Corporation have reported a savings of $85,000.00, a lowering of 275 tons of carbon pollution and a reduction of landfill waste by 60 tons. These practices are available free of charge at www.edf.org/greendining. 

The largest environmental impact included food purchasing, facility operations, packaging, food transportation and the use of non-toxic cleaning chemicals.  The best practice objective is to provide insight into the opportunities for cost and environmental savings for dining managers and chefs. 

This is one of the most precise outlines for environmentally responsible project management. EDF, for decades, has linked science, economics, law and innovative private sector partnerships to create breakthrough solutions to the most serious environmental problems. For restaurant facilities, take on what you can afford, keep in mind that it's the right thing, it can be cost effective, and it's a natural fit for media support!

Do We Handle Grease Traps?

Yes!

Let's talk grease traps.  This is one of those gray areas where what you don't know, can and will hurt you! You are ultimately responsible for the quality of cleaning your trap receives, and negligence on the part of your service provider will be a cost your business will incur! Not only will fees and penalties be applied, your restaurant can be forced to close temporarily until your issue is resolved or until penalties are paid. Not to mention, how many customers are you losing that you don't even know about? When the smell hits, do you think they want to stay and have lunch?

Partial pumping or water being discharged back into your tank is not legally permitted. Although, this may be a common occurrence with certain service providers that have questionable ethics and desperately want your business. If the bid is surprisingly low, this may be a sign that the provider is cutting corners and trying to reduce their costs by not cleaning your tank properly or illegally dumping waste.

Partial pumping only temporarily removes the top layer of material, and doesn't remove any bottom sludge. This sludge is the contributor to odors, solids build up, line blockage, and elevated FOG's being discharged to the sewer. 

It is within your right to ensure that your tank is being completely cleaned to the standards you are expected to uphold. These are steps you can take to make sure your facility is being serviced properly.

1. Know the correct size and rating of your tank(s). This can be found on your blue print or by having a reputable company measure the tank. Once the correct size is known, a restaurant can ensure that the volume removed by the vendor is a full cleaning and not a skimming. Often simply gauging the truck size can tell you if their is no way the provider is thoroughly emptying the tank. 
2. Request one competed manifest signed off from the disposal site confirming the gallons disposed matches the gallons removed. This can also be filed in your records. The city officials can request proof dating back three years. A vendor can easily write a manifest that doesn't match the manifest of the disposal site. You want the disposal site manifest copy!
3. Ask for before and after pictures of the tank with a time/date stamp, or physically be present to see the empty tank when the cleaning is complete. Viewing photos is a common practice among exhaust hood cleaning providers. Make it a part of your grease trap cleaning protocol. It is within your right. And if your service provider makes you feel that you are asking too much, you probably are-so find another provider because this is clearly a red flag!

Grease traps are an area that is an annoyance, but not understanding your legal responsibilities and jumping at the lowest bid can be an expensive error in judgement. Once you establish your standards of procedure, the annoyance becomes negligible. Simply stated, you'll be glad you did!

Is the Green Pizza Box Really Green?

You really need the video to figure out exactly how the box is supposed to work!  The top becomes four plates (if you want to eat off brown cardboard), and the bottom half folds over for easy storage.  Great green direction that encompasses making full use of the pizza box, but does it really accomplish the goal. Course, I'm not quite sure what the goal is....

Once the box becomes pizza juiced soaked, you can't recycle the cardboard. And how much does it cost (in energy) to produce the corrugated cardboard squares? No doubt more than wood pulp paper plates. 

How about a recycled box that is protected by.....something....that keeps the grease away from the pizza and the box?  How about a greaseless pizza? Then you can choose if you want to eat the pizza or the cardboard.  Did we factor in the cost to our air quality for the pizza delivery? Are the trucks running on biodiesel?..... 

Do We Really Know the Meaning of Green?

It's no doubt that in an eco-conscious era, "sustainable" and "green" are buzzwords that sell. With a restaurant, there are no strict definitions. Perhaps the menu items are sourced from local farms that don't use industrial means, maybe the paper goods are recycled or the lighting is solar... are the cleaning products non-toxic?  

What has been reported is that 61% of diners are willing to pay more for green products and menu items despite the tough economy. These diners were also willing to answer a survey! Although diners say they are willing to eat green, how about getting the burger they want without the out of season adds. 

The point is, there's a great deal of confusion and blurring of the lines of what is green and sustainable. No doubt, the terms sell; and when integrated into branding, it can make quite an impact. But what we need are standards!  

From personal experience, we see recyclers claiming to sell for biodiesel, we also see the term "green" in company logos that are far from environmentally conscious.  This industry seems to attract a great number of vendors with poor customer service and shoddy business practices. Standards would help, not just for diners, but for the restaurant owners that really do want to do the right thing-and skimming grease traps and illegally dumping waste water is definitely not the right thing!!  So what can you do? Do what you would like to see your diners do, ask questions and remember the old adage, "if your grease trap bid is too good to be true"....you're probably being skimmed!! 

Will Your Customers Pay More?

They just may!  Minnesota State University found their diners to support a price hike to cover the purchase of green materials. 

Sodexho, the company that provides dining services to the campus brings several new options to support their greener direction.   Spudware, is a bio-based, high-heat tolerant, compostable cutlery made from plant starch. BagasseWare is pulp-based paper packaging derived from plant fibers and is either grown or recovered as crop residue.  EATWare is sturdy, disposable food containers made from bamboo, rice or sugar cane and corn starches.  Natureworks is a clear food container made from vegetable plastic.  And Ecotainers are paper hot cups and soup containers made with compostable linings.

Perhaps you get a little nervous at the thought of paying more when the economy is so challenging. However extensive research has demonstrated that when given a choice, most consumers don't mind a mild added expense when their action can powerfully effect the environment. You could always give them a choice. It's up to you to weigh what your customers will afford, and where you will draw the line.   

What Social Media Can Offer Your Restaurant

If you're unsure about what Social Media can offer your restaurant, think in terms of a long term commitment to change and experimentation. It requires a willingness to listen to customer feedback, and remain open to analyzing, considering, and implementing. 

Social Media isn't a marketing strategy, but a Twitter campaign or a Facebook page that announces menu points and special events can help to attract enthusiastic support.  Will you know it's direct impact in the first year?  Probably not.  Like PR campaigns, social media marketing often produces its best results in the second and third year.  And forget that this may be an answer to a failing economy, the greatest success is achieved by those that already have a loyal audience and consistent branding. 

It's not enough to have great content and a superior product, without knowing how to drive traffic to your site, your efforts will go unnoticed.  So what can you do?

Create a content strategy.  What is the purpose and the focus for the blog?  What will hold the interest of your readers, and how are you different?  Make sure your first three blog posts tell your readers who you are and sets the tone for posts to come.  Be about the community, and sharing information.  Consider ads carefully, many readers will be turned off when they feel they are being sold.  And make sure your RSS feed is in plain sight, you want to make it easy for your readers to navigate and follow.

Use your Twitter to reach contacts and initiate news sharing, mention your blog on your niche social media sites, guest post on other blogs and drive traffic back.  Comment on message boards and forums, be helpful and add news worthy commentary.  No one wants to read an ongoing advertisement about the greatness of your business--inform, educate and entertain.  It is, indeed, amazing how much your loyal fans really want to be in the know, at the very least, you'll gain valuable insight into what is working and what your customers are really saying!

Producing Biodiesel Can Be Hazardous

A friend of mine called last night to let me know that a biodiesel plant had exploded.  When I googled the event, New York...Florida...Seattle...had all experienced unexpected and potentially serious events. These are large sophisticated facilities that certainly are following every precaution, but when you are working with reactors and flammable materials, accidents do happen.

Often I hear that someone's friend is making biodiesel, although I admire their effort and interest in supporting environmentally friendlier fuels, my concern extends to the potential injuries that can happen. At the very least, if the fuel isn't of highest quality (and it isn't as easy as one thinks to produce good quality), it can really do a number on your engine. Is it worth it?  Is it worth the possible injuries or even fatalities?  Consider your biodiesel purchase your insurance policy.

Leave it to the experts!  And.....not all biodiesel is the same.  When purchasing biodiesel, trust a provider that is reputable and one of the larger producers in the state. That is your quality assurance! I've noticed articles recently on smaller producers that are directly collecting oil and selling it through local pump stations; your car is an investment, protect it!  Do some research.  Chances are that a larger producer is selling to corporate fleets and more reputable organizations, this ensures quality.  You are going to be less informed of quality issues from a pump that is utilized to sell to the general public.