If you’ve set a sustainability goal for yourself, then the next thing you need is a plan. How are you going to make your operation more sustainable? What are the areas that can provide the maximum benefit with the least amount of investment? How do you plan to market your efforts to your customers? All are good questions, and you’d better have answers before you start spending time and money.


Here’s five steps to get you started towards a greener, more profitable future: 1.


Improve energy efficiency. In most restaurants, this is the easiest place to cut costs with minimal


investment. The added bonus is that you get to tell your customers


how committed to sustainability you are after you’ve cut energy bills. Simple improvements like training your staff to manage equipment efficiently, cutting heating and cooling bills, and investing in energy efficient equipment can make a huge difference.


Of course, every restaurant is different, and the strategies that work in your restaurant aren’t going to work somewhere else. When you’re making your sustainability plan, identify where you can improve efficiency then estimate how much you’ll save on future bills versus how much it will cost you to implement your plan.


2.


Come up with a program. Another key to a successful sustainability plan for your restaurant


is figuring out ways to reduce waste. Recycling and composting


programs are the two most common ways to address this. Unfortunately, unlike energy efficiency improvements these waste reduction programs are either cost neutral or increase your operating expenses.


That doesn’t mean they don’t provide benefits. The public relations mileage you can get out of a good recycling or composting program can prove invaluable. Remind customers you recycle or compost waste. The local newspaper in your neighborhood is another great way to get the word out about your program. Newspapers


run stories like this all the time, and it can be great free


advertising. 3.


Change your buying habits. You’re a consumer just like everybody else. The purchasing decisions


you make for your restaurant say a lot about how you run your TUNDRA RESTAURANT SUPPLY


business. Making sustainable decisions will also make your operation a lot greener.


Some places to start: • Source ingredients locally and/or grow your own • Use compostable disposable items like corn cups and sugarcane to-go containers (see Eco-Products, pages 18-19)


• Buy seafood only from certified sustainable seafood distributors


4.


Source food locally. Featuring in-season, local ingredients on your menu not only gives


your customer unique, delicious choices, it makes your operation


much more sustainable. Why? Because you save “food miles” – the distance ingredients have to be shipped before they are served – and you reduce the usage of pollutants like pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers employed by large agribusiness operations. To be sure, local producers also use chemicals to control pests and encourage plant growth, but those chemicals are typically employed much more efficiently and effectively, resulting in less overall usage.


5.


Don’t be bashful – talk about yourself!


As you put this plan into action, don’t be afraid to tell everyone you can think of about what you’re doing. This isn’t just a one- time announcement. Your sustainability plan will likely take some time to implement, and you should turn that effort into an ongoing conversation with anyone who will listen, especially customers. Use multiple channels ranging from banners in the front of the house to social media to announce your new, sustainable self to the world.


You’ll be amazed how interested people will be in what you’re doing.


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