July/August 2009
By Michael Wall
It’s the hottest trend in the restaurant business, customers want it and heck, it may even be law one day – utilizing green practices in the restaurant business is here to stay.
But what does “being green” mean exactly? And how can restaurants jump on this bandwagon while actually accomplishing the goal of protecting the environment, which is at the heart of all green and sustainable efforts?
Don’t fret, friends. We’ve compiled this list of 10 things restaurants can do to be green, and we had one of the best advisors you can get: Gina Hopkins, Director of Operations at Atlanta’s Restaurant Eugene, which is as celebrated for its sustainability efforts almost as much as for its cuisine. (Restaurant Eugene has been a winner of the Wine Spectator Award of Excellence since 2005. Chef Linton Hopkins is a James Beard Award nominee, and one of Food & Wine magazine’s 2009 Best New Chefs.)
Linton Hopkins adjusts his menu to highlight Georgia’s purest locally grown produce and naturally raised meats.
For Restaurant Eugene, and the dozens of other amazing restaurants around the state of Georgia that strive to protect the soil and water from which all good food comes, seasonality becomes a concept that’s as equally important as sustainability.
Gina Hopkins gave us some great tips, and we’ve tracked down some others from restaurants that may not be quite as celebrated but are headed in the right direction.
Tip No. 1: Buy Local, Buy Local, Buy Local
Believe it or not, shopping from a nearby farm isn’t as hard as you’d think. And many times it’s even easier and more convenient than buying produce in bulk from a company whose product comes from who knows where.
Hopkins says, “Especially when it comes to artisans and producers, anything we can get locally cuts down on carbon footprint.”
One reason local food is better environmentally is that the average dish travels 1,500 miles from farm to plate. Needless to say, that’s a lot of fuel, which produces a lot of greenhouse gases and smog-forming particles.
More and more these days, local farmers and ranchers are switching to organic farming, and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency studies show that conventional herbicides and fungicides contain known carcinogens. Organic farming also keeps tons of pesticides out of Georgia’s rivers, streams and lakes.
Plus, there are other advantages to buying local. It supports your local economy, which means you’re supporting community members who’ll, in turn, have more to spend at your restaurant.
Bonus tip: For restaurants beginning this march towards sustainability, the path can be daunting at first. Local procurement isn’t always that easy, or even affordable, at first. It takes patience, time and good marketing for restaurants to sell their high-quality, locally produced menus for a profit.
But you can start off small. Take the BookHouse Pub, a quaint, woodpaneled new joint on Ponce de Leon Avenue with a stellar beer selection. The typical patron here is on the younger, hipper side, and wouldn’t be considered a foodie. Chef Julia LeRoy is offering a prix fixe, four-course local dinner that’s still somehow affordable. It’s innovative, and a great start.
Tip No. 2: Recycle
To some it sounds obvious, to others it sounds impossible. Until recently, it’s been all but impossible for restaurants to recycle because of the volume of waste produced: the beer bottles, the wine bottles, the napkins, all the vegetable grease.
Now, though, there are several recycling companies that handle the trash restaurants produce.
“It seems incredibly obvious now, but for a long time recycling was not an option for restaurants simply because it was such a large amount,” says Hopkins. “If it’s not available in your area, put together a team on your staff and tag team taking your things to a recycling center, which is what we did for two years before we were able to get our recycling picked up. And that was initiated by our staff.”
Tip No. 3: Composting
Composting involves capturing all of your food waste, mixing it with other organic matter and allowing it to decompose into organic matter that makes for a heck of a soil or fertilizer. Sometimes worms are used to speed up and enrich the process, which is then called verma-composting.
Composting is one of the hottest green trends among restaurants right now, and it’s usually done with a valuable partner: a farmer. After all, farmers are always battling Georgia’s red clay soil, and rich compost is the perfect antidote.
Tip No. 4: Grease Is The Word
Just a few years ago, Restaurant Eugene paid companies to come and collect their used vegetable grease. But now, a company pays them for it and then converts it into biodiesel, a fuel that can be burned in any diesel engine.
This serves two very exciting sustainable functions. First, it keeps a waste stream, the grease, out of landfills. In fact, illegal dumping of restaurant grease has been a problem in Georgia since day one.
Second, biodiesel is a much cleaner-burning fuel than regular petroleum diesel. It’s not a cure-all, though. It doesn’t help with a type of pollution called particulate matter. But it does drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
And its smell reminds everyone of food!
Tip No. 5: Cleaning up
These days, it’s easy to find alternatives to those staples of restaurant cleaning supplies: Windex, Pledge, etc.
Seventh Generation All Purpose Cleaner is a great replacement and doesn’t contain any of the products that damage the environment through either its use or production. A 50/50 mixture of white vinegar and water is another simple, highly effective green cleaner.
“Natural cleaning products – that’s a big one,” says Hopkins. “It’s so much healthier for our staff and guests coming into the restaurant.”
Tip No. 6: Ceiling Fans
Ceiling fans help push air around inside your restaurant. Hot air rises and cold air falls. Keeping them mixed up and more constant can have amazing efficiency results. Restaurant Eugene was able to save 25% of its heating and cooling costs by simply installing ceiling fans.
Tip No. 7: Lights Out
When it’s finally time to close up, turn the lights off, too.
Tip No. 8: Computers Off
Save money and energy by shutting down the restaurant computers, too. Not many do this, but think about the amount of time you are gone with your computers on. “And computers use a lot of juice,” Hopkins says.
Tip No. 9: Alternative Transportation
This isn’t applicable to all restaurants, but carpooling, transit use and bike riding are great ways to lower your impact on the planet.
“We have a lot of people who carpool to the restaurant,” Hopkins says. “It’s not something you think of when it comes to restaurants, and it surprises me when I see restaurant staff carpooling.”
“I would say there are 60 people on staff and 15 that are in carpools. That’s really great. Some of them even ride bikes to work.”
Tip No. 10: Paper Versus Plastic
Ok, this isn’t a real tip. It’s just an example to demonstrate how hard it is to do the right thing, even when you want to. The important thing to being green is that you just try. Restaurant Eugene recently debated whether to use reusable cloth towels or recycled, throwaway paper towels. The correct answer is elusive. So much is still unknown when it comes to the complex life cycle analyses that are required to best protect the planet.
Hopkins eventually went with recycled paper towels. Who knows if that’s the most environmentally sound decision?
But the point is, at least she cared enough to think about it.
