6 Tips to Make Your Restaurant More Sustainable

Not only is becoming more eco-friendly the right thing to do, but customers are gravitating towards restaurants and hotels that advertise their sustainability efforts. 

If your restaurant is looking to ‘go green’ but you aren’t quite sure how take a look at a few top tips that can help you become environmentally friendly with little to no effort required. 

Let’s take a look at the 6 best ways to make your restaurant green!

1. Grow your own produce

If you’ve got the space, why not grow your own ingredients? You can choose what you grow and how much of it. Growing your own produce is more sustainable as it cuts down supply chain costs. 

When setting up, there’ll be added costs to buy the materials, but, in the long run, you’ll have organic, high-quality products at a fraction of the cost. 

2. Serve more vegetarian and vegan options

Plant-based options have become very popular in restaurants as customers are ordering meat-free meals. Reducing meat and dairy can help reduce the negative impact they have on the planet. 

What’s even better, vegetarian and vegan menu items can have higher profit margins, so you can save money!

3. Only use sustainable takeout containers

With so many sustainable takeout containers available, switching from single-use plastics to a sustainable alternative has never been easier. 

Customers are willing to pay extra for glass bottles and containers that are reusable, recyclable, and biodegradable. 

4. Reduce food waste

Working a menu around reducing food waste is a popular trend in the restaurant industry. Chefs are finding creative solutions to use every part of the ingredients they buy. For example, tepache is a famous Mexican drink fermented from the peel and rind of pineapples. Or, simply freeze herbs that have been left over.

5. Reclaim and reuse your decor 

Hit up 2nd hand stores and give your restaurant a vintage retro feel. Reusing old decor or repurposing something into a centerpiece or piece of art is a small way to make your restaurant greener. 

6. Invest in top-quality appliances 

It may not be what first comes to mind, but higher-quality appliances last longer and are often more energy efficient. Although they’ll cost more upfront, they are well worth the investment for the restaurant and the planet.

These are just a few ways to help make your restaurant and our Earth greener!

REMEMBER: Contact barbara@islandsupply.co.za if you would like details about the eco-friendly products that we offer and queries to help your hotel go greener.

The article was written by Christine Fay Smith

“Christine is a freelance lifestyle writer. She focuses on interior and hospitality design. After graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts, Christine has embraced her knowledge of the visual world. She mixes this with passion for culture and the exploration of visual experiences.”