Jun 10 2008

Small Restaurants Put Energy Savings On The Menu

Posted by: Leonard Anderson

Small restaurants are taking steps to install energy-saving equipment to reduce operating costs, yet another sign that green business is expanding into more sectors. The San Francisco Chronicle today looks at mom-and-pop eateries in the Bay Area that may not be able to put a full organic menu on the table but can do some other things to put out an  environmentally friendly welcome mat.

Tin's Tea House Lounge in Walnut Creek, for example, replaced Styrofoam takeout containers with biodegradable ones made of cornstarch, installed low-flow nozzles and faucets in the kitchen, and got utility rebates to switch to energy-efficient chandeliers for just $200. The lowered energy bill and other measures will save about $4,500 each year.

"The steps that are the most financially viable are lighting, changing the gaskets in refrigerators, and installing strip curtains (to save energy) in walk-in refrigerators," says Suparna Vashisht of Thimmakka, a Berkeley nonprofit that has helped more than 125 restaurants including Tin's Tea House figure out how to be greener, the Chronicle says.

Bianco's Deli in El Sobrante places empty pickle barrels at workstations for compostable food waste, reducing trash sent to a landfill from four large bins each week to less than two.

Food-to-compost is growing in the Bay Area. Sunset Scavenger Co. and Golden Gate Disposal & Recycling Co. launched the first urban collection of food waste in the nation in 1996 and is now collecting 300 tons of scraps a day from 2,100 restaurants in San Francisco, Robert Reed, a spokesman for the companies, told NEXT100. They also collect food waste from 80,000 homes in the city. The waste is processed into fertilizer and marketed to some 200 vineyards in northern California. 

Seattle, Portland, Denver, and St. Paul, Minn., are collecting food scraps and New York City and Dallas also are looking at the program, Reed said.

Here at PG&E, our Food Service Technology Center offers a range of services including test reports on kitchen equipment, advice on cutting energy use and costs, commercial kitchen seminars, and design consultation.

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