Wednesday, October 17, 2007
News / Restaurants / Food & Life / Food media In the business of going green
Posted by Adina Fleming on Wed, Oct 17, 2007 at 7:02 PM
"If restaurants were automobiles, they would be Hummers." So says Richard Young, an electrical engineer with the food service technology center in an article from the Boston Globe. "They use five times more energy than any other commercial building."
The article is about the national Green Restaurant Association, a nonprofit organization founded in 1990 by Michael Oshman. Started as a response to the taxing effect the restaurant industry has on the environment -- restaurants make up 10 percent of the American economy and are the top energy consumer in the retail sector -- Oshman said in a New York Times article that in recent years, "People are finally ready."
Through a comprehensive model including research, marketing, consulting, and education, the GRA offers restaurants a path to becoming a Certified Green Restaurant as part of an effort to create a more ecologically sustainable industry.
Interestingly enough, on the page of its website that gives restaurant owners seven reasons to join the GRA, creating a healthier environment is No. 7.
That's because the GRA is trying to appeal to business owners, about whom Oshman says, "At the end of the day, they need to have it justified financially." Which explains why his organization puts the following financially attractive reasons first: publicity, cut costs, improved staff productivity and morale, customer loyalty, and new customers.
In Atlanta, My Panini and Radial are two recent restaurants to gain certification. This means they meet the following standards:
- use a comprehensive recycling system
- free of Styrofoam products
- commit to completing four of the GRA's Environmental Steps per year of membership
- complete at least one Environmental Step after joining the GRA
The Environmental Steps contain a variety of guidelines from water efficiency and usage, to pollution prevention, to using nontoxic cleaning products. As full members, restaurant owners receive environmental consulting, education and marketing/PR for their business. Cost of membership varies, with one-, three- or five-year contracts available.
Oshman's success thus far (by last spring his group had certified almost 300 restaurants) seems to be in his ability to show how environmentally sound practices are also cost-effective ones. And with a growing consumer base that values conservation practices, the success should continue.
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