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It ain't easy being Green! Kermit was right. It is an ongoing journey, at times disheartening, at times humorous.
- Entry for March 12, 2008
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I attended a meeting Monday, March 10th, at Lilly's Dim Sum, just off Rodney Parham in Little Rock. The meeting's focus was resource sharing-expedition of hospitality industry's progress with regard to environmental responsibility. It is our goal to create a criteria set the industry aspires to in order to achieve a green designation.The Governor's Mansion, The Clinton School/Library, The Arkansas Chapter of the Culinary Institute, City Hall (Little Rock) and the State Capital Complex were represented, in a addition to a dozen local restaurants. Robyn Madden with Napco spoke and introduced their EF Initiative-exhibited some of Napco's EFIndustrial products.Potential "green" designation criteria discussed:Cessation of foam carry out containers/cups, bottled water, unsafe cleaner/chemical usage.Industrywide recycling- cardboard, paper, plastic and waste oil.Installation of programmable thermostats, compact flourescents and energy efficient equipment.Reducing product delivery frequency.Local/organic purchasing (Fossil fuel route reduction= fewer emissions, less scrap steel, battery acid, corrosive fluids, fewer tires to replace/dispose of, less roadway wear and tear, etc...and is beneficial to the local economy).Using "Green" printers (jetletter@aol.com)Uplinking support...i.e. shopping/dining with "green" merchants who have met the established criteria, providing website cross promotional incentives.Determining which goods and services are truly "green"...avoiding the "green washing" trend (false claims, negligible benefits, higher price.)Increased paperless communication.Providing clients with recycled/reusable carry out bags...phasing out plastic bags.It was suggested that we launch the initiative on April 24th, after an April 21rst announcement at the State Capital, focusing on heightening conservation awareness, with "Lights Out! Dine Out!".Participating restaurants will turn off dining room lights on Earth Day, using soy candles, rather than electricity, to illuminate dining rooms.Additionally, several attendees were delegated research oriented tasks. Tara, with Boulevard Bread Company, will provide data on sourcing locally grown, organic produce (they already implement local vendor purchasing practices). Kapi Peck (Trios) will work on creating the poster for the "Lights Out!" event, contact the Little Rock A & P regarding the event and research the feasability of providing clients reusable carry out bags. J.D. Lowry (The Clinton School) will be perusing the greenrestaurants.org and dinegreen.com websites for ideas. Representative Webb (Lilly's Dim Sum) was researching several pertinent sustainability options, as well.It was suggested that all participants visit dinegreen.com and greenrestaurants.org .It may be easier and faster to simply join an already existing industry specific initiative.The meeting was productive. The sum total of ideas will help us do the right things more quickly.By the way(s)....we did use vinegar and water to clean our glass table tops today. It worked well. The ratio was one quarter vinegar/three quarters hot water (from the coffee machine spigot).I traded in my body wash and liquid hand soap for bar soap (Burt's Bees and/or L'occitane)....imagine the reduction in packaging.I talked to Rebecca (Laughing Cow) about purchasing freshly made gourmet desserts from her rather than from Chicago and New York...possibly bread, as well....and transporting it myself as I head to Benton from Little Rock each day (in my new compact car!).I also stopped the groundskeeper from using herbicides on a landscaped island in our parking lot. I told him we would bend over and pluck the three or four weeds springing out of the mulch. He was jovially cooperative.Let us know what you are doing!Tags: gogreen, greenrestaurants Wednesday March 12, 2008 - 10:45am (PDT) Permanent Link
- Entry for February 2008
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"It ain't easy being Green!" Kermit was right.
It is an ongoing journey, at times disheartening, at times humorous. Biodegradable carry out packaging is expensive (try $419 as opposed to $100 per our standard order)...and sketchy (tray will melt into a "shrinky - dink" if food is hot). YIKES!
On top of it all, we initially had clients who cursed and acted badly about being charged .50 cents for fresh carry out beverages....(hmmmm, an "in house" beverage and a "to go" beverage are two separate products. You don't drive round and round at McDonald's and get refills, right? Right.) C'mon, guys, we cant give you multiple beverages without charging you.
We are trying to be environmentally responsible.
Additionally, it takes a great deal of time and effort to traverse the treacherous "Go Green" landscape, which is fraught with false claims and high prices.
The good news-
We found new, environmentally friendly, biodegradable carry out packaging which could take the heat. We had to go back to foam in the interim and....our clients balked. They wanted the good stuff back. They began to request it. They voiced their support for our green initiative. They cared and it made our day! Thanks guys.
Or ultra computer literate staff has been researching the project tirelessly, validating truth in "green" advertising, searching for new ideas and helping me implement them. The depth and breadth of the investigation has led us on wild goose chases and seemingly crazy concepts....we all want a green burial now and our attorney is exasperated!!! Ha! Ha!
Our vendors have helped us conduct research, find new products, reduce the number of monthly deliveries we receive and consolidate energy intensive endeavors.
Our clients have interfaced their data with us and helped create a logic loop. They have made great recommendations, asked questions and gotten enthusiastic about this project right along with us.
They are helping us move toward sustainability, local purchasing and realistic feasibility.
Thanks guys!We will be posting green data periodically. We know you have seen our list before. The "to do" list is somewhat over exposed. We recommend that you do all you possibly can on the list, though. It is a good start and it feels good/ saves money.
There's a lot more to it than turning off lights, though. It can be mind boggling. We will list products and ideas that are reasonable and can help you get started on your truly green lifestyle....we'll spare you the $700 blankets and the $2,400 recycled wood footstools.
Here are some environmentally reasonable suggestions:
Dish gel - Ecover 1-800-449-4925 $5.20
Cold water coffee maker - Toddycafe.com $37.50
Laundry detergent- "Get Clean Fresh Laundry" Shaklee.com $14.95
Glass cleaner Biokleen - Biokleenhome.com $4.89
Furniture polish - Timothy Corrigan Home "Restore" Timothy-Corrigan.com $12.50
Hyper renewable bamboo and sorghum broom "Sweep Dreams" 3rliving.com $24.00
Multipurpose cleaner- Solay Simple Solaywellness.com $8.95A simple label decoding guide-- very briefly, a list of "No's":
Ammonia.
Butyl Cellosolve.
Chlorine Bleach (try oxygen of hydrogen peroxide based bleach).
Sodium Hydroxide.
Avoid fragrances and be aware that, generally, "non-toxic" means nothing...it is just a marketing ploy.
Cosmetics and bath products are a challenge. They seem to be a morass of contradictions, half truths and unrealistic promises. We skimmed over a few facts and found that Burt's Bees seems to get a positive nod from multiple reliable sources. These products are easily attainable and affordable. We also noticed Korres Natural Cosmetics is also recommended frequently and is available at Sephora.
We encourage everyone to support green merchants. It will help bring prices down and expand product availability. Ask for environmentally sound products. Voice your concerns.
We are aware of a handful of businesses launching green initiatives and/or offering eco-friendly products.---Scarlett's, Beyond Cotton, Fresh Market, Wild Oats, Drug Emporium, Imagine, Trios, Boulevard Bread, Lilly's Dim Sum....we'll add to this list as we conduct more research (eating and shopping). If you know of other businesses working on being "green", please let us know.
For those of you building a new home or converting an older home we recommend "The Solar Living Sourcebook."
It covers ALOT...general conservation, harvesting solar, wind and water power, off the grid living, siting, composting, composting toilets, gray water systems, tankless hot water heaters, etc...and the systems needed to install and maintain them. It covers costs and gives specific vendors for each product, We have it here, at Dizzy's, you are welcome to peruse it...just don't take it off the premises because we use it daily! It, by the way, also covers the mundane "green" products, like toilet paper and trash bags.
We'd love to hear from anyone with new, environmentally friendly, business operations concepts.Tags: gogreen, greenrestaurants Wednesday March 12, 2008 - 10:38am (PDT) Permanent Link
