Environmental Planner: My Second Mission

If you read my last entry, you'll know that I have decided to put in my two cents on how businesses can "green up" their act. My last mission was hotels. Now I'm on to restaurants.


Recently, I was eating at one of my favorite fast food chain restaurants--Chipotle (I can't resist their chips and guacamole). It made me think about how many people must frequent these places every day.


Now, Chipotle is great because their meat is hormone-free. However, they, along with all fast food chains, could use some work on the amount of waste they generate. I think the biggest way to reduce waste would be for them to ask, from the moment they say hello, or in the case of Chipotle, the moment they pull the tortilla out of the tortilla press, "Is this for here or to go?" A "For Here," should require a totally different process of set up.


First, the burrito, burger, sub, etc. would not need to be wrapped up. Instead, it could be put on a reusable plate. Second, any sides of guacamole or salsa could also be put in a little reusable cup instead of one of those plastic cups that's marked that it's recyclable but there's nowhere to recycle it in the store. Same with fries: put it in a reusable dish.


Next, the utensils. We toss so many utensils. And I'll bet sometimes you take a spoon or a knife and never even use it. (Who hasn't?) For eating in the restaurant, metal utensils should be available. (And for To Go'ers, there are those biodegradable utensils made from potatoes.)


Last, so many napkins and condiments get wasted at restaurants. Since most people won't want to get up mid-meal, they "stock up" for the family on supplies before sitting down, taking enough napkins for an army and enough ketchup and salt packets to cover twenty hot dogs and thirty bags of popcorn respectively. Once they've finished their meal, having used four napkins, only two ketchup packets and three salts, they usually toss the rest (what else could you do--take them home in your purse?). Restaurants can solve this problem by having everything on the tables: a napkin dispenser, salt and pepper shakers, and condiments. Now I'm not one for those nasty ketchup bottles; they're the best environmentally but probably not the most sanitary. So I'll let restaurants keep the little packets. Just think, though, how many wouldn't be wasted if they were in a little basket on the table? You use one. It turns out you need a second one--there it is, right there. Same with the salt and napkins.


So, as you can see, there's lots of room for improvement out there. I wonder which fast food chain will be the first to think of this.