Do you have a set routine when it comes to the trash? We have looked into the growing number of restaurants in the country and have discovered many of them have started to embrace composting, recycling and donating untouched food, most are still left with a full load of garbage at the end of the day. It is not hard to believe that in the United States alone restaurants are calculated to produce almost 25,000 pounds of food waste alone every single year. This number is hard to grasp and most of us may choose not to believe that our establishment contributes to this largely growing number but, we do and we have to face the facts.
There is hope to lessen your environmental footprint however and there are important steps you are able to do on a daily basis that will not only help make a huge difference: it takes however a mindset of thinking you will produce zero-waste and eliminate your carbon footprint all together. Using the simple three “R”s you will be able to affectively improve the environment with which your restaurant operates in.
The three “R”s of the environment are - Reduce, Ruse, Recycle. When engaging these steps we are certain any restaurant will be able to move forward towards minimizing the amount of waste they end up with at the end of each shift. Not to mention when reduce your waste there is a heightened possibility you will end up reducing your food cost and making a higher profit margin.
We want to make sure that everyone reading this article understand in full the three “R’’s, so or those who may need a bit of a refresher on the three “R’’s here you go!
Reduce: Scale down your menu size, rule of thumb the less items you have to purchase, the less likely you are to have products end up in the garbage pile. Look at wha your customers are truly ordering, if there is a dish on the menu that calls for 20 ingredients but, you only sell 3 per week, it may be time to take the dish off, reducing the waste yielded every week when the dish does not sell.
Reuse: Become creative, try to use every item that you source and when that is not an option freeze the left over and send them to charity. The community will appreciate the gesture.
Recycle: Choosing foods packaged in recyclable or compostable materials offers a huge benefit for eliminating waste—you can toss everything into its respective bin with a guilt-free conscious. This means holding everyone accountable for making sure that things get thrown away correctly.
Taking the correct steps to become a more environmentally stable and resourceful does take time but, it will be meaningful. It will create a sense of community within your establishment and will hopefully install great morals for your employees to immolate.
