Channeling Your Inner Green Instincts
Restaurant Survival Tips
By Ross Howard, SYSCO Charlotte
There are literally dozens of ways that you can improve the environmental impact of your restaurant, many of which involve simple changes or alterations to your daily habits. You don’t have to be a tree-hugger or hippie to channel your inner green instincts—you simply have to be business savvy and resourceful. Channeling your inner green will help you save money, resources, and time.
Think about the daily operation of your restaurant. What are some of the key things that happen each day? How can you slightly alter these activities so that they happen more efficiently or, better yet, in a way that helps your restaurant take steps in a greener direction?
Waste Grease and Wasted Grease
Most restaurants produce waste vegetable oil, and all of these restaurants are required to dispose of it properly. Because there is so much of it, waste vegetable oil has become a valuable bi-product of the restaurant industry. Thanks to modern ingenuity, there are a handful of ways a restaurant can make even better use out of this green-colored gold. The majority of biodiesel companies out there don’t charge for pick up of waste vegetable oil. In fact, sometimes they even pay restaurants for it! If you have to give it away, why not give it to a company who will pay you for it and turn it into a new resource?
Another option is to use it. Waste vegetable oil is used to fuel converted diesel engines. Conversion kits work by using a duel-tank to blend waste oil with diesel fuel (different from biodiesel, which comes already blended at the pump). Sound difficult? It’s not. Chef Jose Duarte, owner of Taranta Restaurant in Boston, was looking for ways to save when he decided to convert his Chevy pick-up to run on WVO. Duarte purchases fresh, local seafood from a nearby coastal town every day and was feeling the burden of rising fuel costs when he decided to convert his truck to run on his waste oil. Now, he’s saving a few thousand dollars a year on fuel costs and he’s organized a program with his local restaurant friends to gather their WVO, too. This process allows the restaurant to directly see where their waste oil is going, and to reap the benefits of this valuable resource.
Run Your Restaurant on Waste Vegetable Oil
Owl Power, the Massachusetts-based developer of clean energy systems, recently launched Vegawatt, a cogeneration system that uses waste vegetable oil as fuel to generate on-site electricity and hot water. Yes, it’s true; you can now run your restaurant on waste vegetable oil! Vegawatt is not run on biodiesel that needs to be processed, but rather it’s run on straight used vegetable oil. Any restaurant with fryers can use the Vegawatt system to save as much as $800 monthly. This fully automated system requires no maintenance by restaurant staff, no additional chemicals, and produces no liquid byproducts. With restaurants being the largest consumer of electricity in the commercial sector, a product like Vegawatt has the potential to greatly reduce the restaurant industry’s energy demands.
Turning Table Scraps into Cash
Restaurants are charged for trash hauling based on the weight and amount of what’s being picked up. Plastic bags filled with food weigh a lot. Composting is simply another way of disposing of food waste. Don’t be scared—if it was hard we wouldn’t suggest you do it! The Green Restaurant Association works with hundreds of restaurants all over the United States, many of which might strike you as unlikely composting candidates:
• Famed chef and restaurateur, Mario Batali, composts in his New York, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas restaurants. His restaurants are fine-dining, upscale establishments, proving that composting fits in any restaurant environment.
• Grendel’s Den, located in historic Cambridge, Massachusetts, thought composting wasn’t possible because of its tight back-of-house quarters. GRA consultants helped the restaurant get on a steady pick-up schedule so that bins don’t linger in the limited space.
• Even chains can compost! Le Pain Quotidien, a multi-unit concept in New York and Los Angeles, composts its food waste through commercial composting programs in both cities.
Making the Most of it All
Every restaurant produces waste. Every restaurant has old furniture, equipment, and grease. Every restaurant will always have stuff they need to get rid of. The question is, are you getting rid of it in the best, most sustainable way you can? Do you know where it’s going when it leaves your restaurant, or is just going “away?” Make the most of what you have, and then let it become something else—or let it be of use to someone else.
One of the best ways to begin greening your restaurant is to implement the age-old practice of efficiency, and channel your inner green instincts. Making the most of waste vegetable oil, implementing good green behaviors, and composting are all great places to start. These habit changes will set you off on the right foot. For more information, visit www.dinegreen.com.
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