Being “green” isn’t necessarily the newest topic of choice, but it is a rather challenging topic when it comes to the restaurant industry. Restaurants have a fast paced work environment and usually use many resources on a daily basis. So getting creative is vital when considering going green. It is also important to have your entire staff on board and aware of the various ways they can help you go green. Have each station set up with a way to go green (wait stations, kitchen, dish room etc.)

Tip #1 is to recycle! This is also not a new concept either but when you consider how many customers read newspapers, many restaurants provide newspapers, you would save a whole lot of trees, 75 million to be exact. Recycle the newspapers or any other paper products whenever you can. According to Fox news each year, 10 million tons of newspaper are not recycled, but thrown away in landfills.

Tip #2 is to move your heater thermostat down 2 degrees in winter and up two degrees in summer saves over 2,000 pounds of Co2 emissions-which is over $100 on your annual energy bills. This is definitely a win win situation.

Tip #3 is to switch all Styrofoam products to paper products. Restaurant use Styrofoam products for a number of things such as to go cups, boxes, soup cups, and coffee cups.

Tip #4 is to purchase foods that are locally grown and/or organic to support the reduction of toxic synthetic pesticides and fertilizers. It also reduces any pollution associated with long distance transportation

Tip #5 if you own a restaurant or are opening a restaurant you have to be willing to put the time, money, and effort into going green. And, if you are, you can purchase energy efficient kitchen appliances.