Eco friendly restaurants are learning how to lessen their environmental impact and improve their business at the same time. Discover how you can go paperless and boost work productivity at your venue.
How do Eco friendly Restaurants Work?
People across the world are increasingly aware of the environmental impact of their activities. In an international survey, one consulting group found that public concern on climate change has increased. Seventy per cent of the survey’s respondents said they were more committed to supporting sustainable practices.
Top chefs across the globe have already seized the initiative and made radical changes at home in their restaurants. Daniel Humm, a restaurant owner in both the UK and USA, made headlines with a head-turning act in late 2021: he ditched his old menus at both his London and New York venues to go for a completely meat free alternative.
Humm based his decision on researching eco-friendly initiatives. “The current food system is simply not sustainable,” he has argued, and is not alone in his efforts. In France, for instance, the Michelin guide has unveiled its new green stars award, a prize that recognises restaurants that are building a bridge between sustainability and excellence.
Top-end restaurants are putting extra effort into re-balancing hospitality food chains. This has proven to make a real difference in the world. Red meat production, for example, contributes to 14.5 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions. So, reducing meat consumption cuts down on carbon emissions, which eventually contributes to sustainability goals worldwide.
However, restaurants don’t need to put plants centre stage to make meaningful change in their businesses. For some high-priced venues, animals are forever off the menu, but smaller moves can also push for bigger differences for the rest.
Why Become an Eco friendly Restaurant?
First, it’s necessary — if not now, then sooner or later.
Restaurants will need to invest time and energy into sustainable practices, such as reducing food waste, strictly managing their stock, and ensuring that suppliers adhere to fair trade regulations.
Second, environmental awareness is on the increase.
Popular understandings of climate change are reshaping consumer behaviour. One study in the US showed that restaurant guests are more aware of how restaurants impact the environment. Its survey found that 73 per cent of US consumers said that excess food from restaurants should be donated to food banks and those that need it.
Therefore, restaurants need to employ eco-friendly practices for two reasons: necessity and survival in the public sphere of business.
The Green Elephant, an eco restaurant in London, is committed to sustainability (via Flickr courtesy of Paul VanDerWerf, Creative Commons 2.0)
Start Small and Go Paperless
Meat production, transportation, food waste — all contribute to both air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.
To reduce these processes, it’s up to the restaurant itself to take individual action. When it comes to paper waste, however, the initiative is invaluable, because going paperless is very easy to do.
It’s also a great way to start on an inevitable wave of change washing up on the shores of the industry. To become an eco friendly restaurant, owners first have to become eco-conscious, that is, practice self-awareness in how their processes have a collateral effect on the environment.
Also, it is tidier to go paperless.
A restaurant waitlist app reduces all paper-related headaches. Paper-based restaurant systems require steady attention.
You have limited space to use, circumventing how many guests you can log in one workday. In addition, handwriting can be a problem; multiple styles can lead to a messy logbook. Not to mention that to store and archive customer information is a straight hassle. Unless you shred your material you have to find a convenient way to adhere to data protection laws.
Working with paper is often a nuisance for restaurants. In an eco-conscious world, however, using paper is a wasteful practice. Now is the time to consider eco restaurant methods.
Will Eco friendly Restaurants Actually Have an Impact?
Yes — the trick is to start small.
Going paperless and switching to a digital method not only improves productivity but is also healthier for the world going forward.
First you reduce clutter. Going paperless will transform your sense of space and reduce the inefficiency of arranging documents. If the average office worker goes through over 10,000 sheets a year, imagine how many sheets of paper your restaurant produces annually. Simultaneously, you have to think about storage space as well as the amount of paper wasted.
Second, you no longer have to worry about recycling.
Yes: recycling reduces your carbon footprint. To recycle paper means that an industry has to cut down less trees. However, the mills that generate recycled paper rely on electricity from fossil fuels; therefore, although recycling cuts down and requires a good forty per cent less energy than manufacturing new paper, it is the lesser of two problematic processes.
Third, going paperless makes eating out easier for customers.
Customers are primed and ready for eco-friendly messaging from restaurants. Many are sensitive to greenwashing methods, false claims on eco-friendly initiatives from advertisers and businesses.
However, customers are also eager to use a quicker, easier digital service that suits today’s needs. For eco-friendly restaurants, a digital system both cuts a carbon emission from the supply chain (i.e. paper) and helps to improve your restaurant’s efficiency while managing guests.
Become an eco restaurant — start with reducing your paper consumption (via Flickr courtesy of Joel Penner, Creative Commons 2.0)
What to Know About Carbonara App and Ecofriendly Restaurants
Available both as an app and web browser, Carbonara App transfers your paper-based processes to the digital screen. Since it is a digital restaurant system, it completely cuts out paper, making hospitality life easy.
Carbonara App has various easy-to-use features that help you streamline and accelerate restaurant activities, including:
- Table management features
- Two-way communication features
- Multi-language support
None of this is possible with a paper system. With the app you can now communicate with guests in real time, interact with various language users from around the world, and efficiently assign tables to guests as they arrive in time.
Employ a Green Solution
A cost-free alternative in Carbonara App is an ideal way to move forward and lessen your restaurant’s carbon footprint.
It is ideal, because the app is easy to pick up, no matter your background in technology, from novice to expert.
Using Carbonara App is like anything else on a smartphone — that is, easy. So, if you already know how to use a smartphone, good news: the Carbonara App is ready to go.
—We’re helping eco-friendly restaurants meet their green objectives. Contact us and learn more about how we can help your restaurant meet its yearly goals.
