Taking sustainable restaurants to a whole new level

It started with local coffee shops growing humble herb gardens and using seasonal produce. The dedicated moved onto worm farms, organic vegetables, and waste water recycling. Now eco-savvy restaurants are actively finding new, innovative ways to contribute to the sustainable hospitality movement.

Sustainable restaurants in the USA

North American restaurants and chains are supporting other industries (and creating new businesses) with their ?green? ideas. For example, some restaurants collect wine corks for recycling into soles for shoes. Others reclaim wood from a variety of sources (renovations, old barns, etc.) and rework it into tables, chairs and restaurant furniture. And have you heard about Starbucks? sustainable practices?

Starbucks have all sorts of sustainable tricks up their sleeve. One of their recent projects was recycling shipping containers. They experimented with using shipping containers to make a ?drive-through coffee house?.

Green initiatives create jobs, businesses and industries

The recovery/recycling processes are creating new businesses. One example is the recovery and recycling of wood. Wood salvage ?used to be two guys in a pick-up recovering barn scraps?, according to Bob Falk, president of the Building Materials Reuse Association. Now it?s much bigger business as reclaimed wood is becoming a valuable commodity.

Starbucks have used recycled wood and furniture in various stores and they recycle at least one regularly-used item, for example, plastic milk jugs. They also provide used coffee grounds to customers as fertiliser for their gardens. Another great initiative is encouraging people to bring their own reusable travel mug or beverage receptacle for their coffee.

In addition to all of these, Starbucks looks at their responsibility on an ethical, local and global scale, and also monitors their progress towards sustainability goals.

Sustainable restaurants in South Africa

South African restaurants are also taking the sustainable movement seriously and exploring a variety of eco-friendly endeavours ranging from the now-popular organic herb and veggie garden, to unusual recycling projects and strong support of the Biodiversity Wine Initiative (BWI). Many restaurants, cafe?s and tea rooms around the country are doing their bit for the environment (and future generations). Here are a few that are leading the sustainable charge?

The Corner Cafe? (Durban)

The Corner Cafe? is run by folks of character! This is how they explain their ethos:

?We are an eco-restaurant, we try to conduct business in a manner that least disrupts the environment. Beverages are ordered in glass bottles, no plastic or tin. We do not stock plastic straws and serviettes are linen not paper. All washing and cleaning is done with dolphin friendly detergents. Excess kitchen scraps are fed into our wormery and turned into worm tea which in turns feeds our garden from which we grow our herbs. We do not use microwaves nor chip fryers. We do not use bathroom aerosols but instead use flower essential oils, or I cut up handfulls of lemon grass and leave it on the floor in the toilets and it smells so kiff.

With saying this we are not tree hugging, tie dye wearing hippies, we are just ordinary people trying to save the planet ?one cappuccino at a time?. And try stay off too much meat?if you have to eat meat try Hope Meats, their animals have had a happy life and an unaware death.?

Their meat is also hormone and antibiotic-free, and free range. The Corner Cafe? uses yoghurt made in the Midlands by hand, recycles 90% of its waste and its grey water system recycles basin and washing machine water. Beverages are sourced from local winemakers and micro-brewers and the cafe? has its own water produced in Morningside using eco-friendly processes.

Eight Restaurant, Spier (Stellenbosch)

Have you heard of Spier?s restaurant, Eight? It?s the cre?me de la cre?me of 5 star ethical indulgence. Let?s start with the fresh produce. The fresh produce used in the restaurant is grown on Spier?s biodynamic farm. If the kitchen needs ingredients unavailable on the farm, local suppliers are thoroughly researched in order to obtain organic and natural produce. Suppliers are vetted by organic certification, fair trade accreditation and labour policies. The only meat served in the restaurant is meat reared on the farm.

The menu changes every day depending on what fresh ingredients are available and no carbonated drinks are served due to the restaurant?s health-and-whole-food emphasis. Drinks include fresh iced teas, squeezed juices, and organic wines.

In the bathrooms you?ll find bio-degradable soaps, recycled paper and ethical cleaning products. The restaurant furniture is recycled from ?waste? wood, and lighting is made from recycled bottles, lined with low voltage LED lights.

Spier also recycles 100% of its waste water, which is used for irrigation. The farm has lowered water usage to 2.6l per 1l of wine ? conventional use is up to 5.6l for the same output.

Visit Gregg?s Platter for more fantastic ethical restaurants in the Western Cape.

South African restaurants and the Biodiversity Wine Initiative

If you?re a regular ?winer-and-diner?, you may have noticed BWI wines populating wine lists across South Africa. In fact, some eco-conscious restaurants serve only BWI wines.

The BWI (Biodiversity Wine Initiative) is a collaboration between the wine industry and the conservation sector. Its purpose is to protect natural fynbos habitats, some of which are highly endangered. Farmers commit to setting aside portions of their farms to preserve (often very specific) natural fauna and flora.

The initiative also focuses on managing water, fire prevention, alien invasive plant species and guarding against pollution and destruction of river and wetland systems. The partnership between farmers and BWI is doing exceptional work and has numerous stories of successful rehabilitation.

SA restaurants and sustainable seafood

Another excellent SA organisation is SASSI, the Southern African Sustainable Seafood Initiative. In general, the fishing industry can be a wasteful one. Countless sea creatures and undesirable fish are caught as a result of fishing practices and are thrown back into the ocean (often dead).

Marine species are increasingly becoming endangered due to overfishing and poaching, and the future of marine life is looking bleak. Seafood is a limited resource that needs to be protected. SASSI has three objectives:

1. Promote voluntary compliance of the law through education and awareness
2. Shift consumer demand away from over-exploited species to more sustainable options
3. Create awareness around marine conservation issues

The organisation also has also established three seafood lists on ?traffic light? basis:

• Green ? safe to eat
• Orange ? rather don?t eat
• Red ? definitely don?t eat!

Seafood on the green list is currently safe to eat because there are sufficient sustainable stocks and fishing practices. Seafood on the orange list is in trouble and seafood, and the red list is in danger.

South Africans saving the earth

As with the BWI wines, many SA restaurants serve only seafood on the SASSI green list.

It?s wonderful to see South African restaurants working towards sustainability in so many different ways. Are there any sustainable restaurants in your area? Let us know in the comments!

Source: http://www.hotelschool.co.za/2012/03/taking-sustainable-restaurants-to-a-whole-new-level/

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