Easy Being Green: 2025 Earth Day Restaurant Guide
- eileen strauss
- Apr 16
- 7 min read
Earth Day is a great opportunity for restaurants to show their commitment to sustainability. From finding beauty in 'ugly' produce to reducing packaging waste, restaurants can integrate sustainable practices into their operations while attracting environmentally-minded customers.
This guide highlights four key practices restaurants can adopt to go green and embrace Earth Day every day.
Sustainable Practices for Restaurants
Earth Day is a perfect opportunity for restaurants to reflect on their sustainable practices and take actionable steps to reduce their environmental impact. Simple solutions such as switching to eco-friendly packaging or sourcing "ugly" produce can create a significant positive impact.
Sustainable Packaging
Packaging waste is a major issue in the restaurant industry, particularly in to-go containers. The widespread use of single-use plastics and Styrofoam contributes significantly to pollution and landfill waste. However, transitioning to more sustainable packaging options can reduce waste and promote your restaurant's eco-friendly image.
Eco-Friendly Packaging Options:
Compostable Containers: Made from materials like sugarcane or bamboo, compostable packaging can break down naturally and enrich the soil.
Biodegradable Products: These are made from renewable plant materials, such as bioplastics, which break down over time and don’t leave lasting environmental damage.
Recycled Materials: Packaging made from recycled content can be reused and recycled again, closing the loop on waste.
Reusable Options: For high-volume items like takeout containers or coffee cups, investing in reusable packaging can significantly cut down on waste.
Making the switch to sustainable packaging can also help attract customers who prioritize environmental responsibility, while potentially reducing the overall cost of disposal.
Beauty of 'Ugly' Produce
Did you know that as much as 72 billion pounds of food goes to waste every year, while millions of Americans continue to struggle with food insecurity. While there are many causes for the high rates in food waste, including unpredictable weather conditions, unfortunate accidents, and unavoidable natural causes, a significant amount of food goes to waste unnecessarily.
One of the most egregious reasons for wasted food is fear of cosmetic imperfections. When fruits or vegetables don’t meet color, size, shape, or other specifications of buyers, many times the product is tossed.
Ugly produce—fruits and vegetables that are deemed unsightly but are perfectly edible—are often discarded or left to rot. However, they represent a huge opportunity for restaurants to reduce food waste while maintaining their commitment to sustainability.
Embracing imperfect fruits and vegetables and seeing the beauty in "ugly" produce is a great way for restaurants to save money, cut waste, and decrease their carbon footprint.
Misshapen potatoes, overripe tomatoes, lopsided bell peppers, and gnarly carrots often get overlooked, but these so-called "ugly" vegetables and fruits are not only still edible—they’re packed with flavor, nutrients, and offer endless possibilities for chefs.
These "seconds" are often much cheaper than their flawless counterparts and can be used in a variety of ways—from sauces and soups to salads and juices. Overripe tomatoes, for example, make for some of the best, most flavorful sauces you can serve. By utilizing produce that would otherwise go to waste, your restaurant can help reduce food waste, support local farmers, and even lower costs while still serving high-quality dishes.
How to Use Ugly Produce in Your Menu
Transform into Sauces or Soups: Overripe tomatoes or slightly blemished carrots can easily be pureed into sauces or soups.
Incorporate in Smoothies or Juices: Use imperfect fruits like apples, peaches, or berries in smoothies and juices. These items might not look perfect, but their flavor and nutrients are still intact.
Pickle or Ferment: Not only do pickled or fermented items add a unique twist to your menu, but they also extend the shelf life of produce, reducing waste.
Incorporate Into Daily Specials: Create daily or weekly specials that use up produce that might not sell in the standard menu.
Don’t Let it Go to Waste
Food waste is a significant problem in the restaurant industry, with many establishments throwing away edible food that could have been used. Reducing food waste is a win-win for the planet and your bottom line, as you reduce costs and increase operational efficiency.
Steps to Reduce Food Waste:
Implement Portion Control: Over-serving food leads to higher waste. Portion control is a key strategy for ensuring that your customers get what they need without unnecessary leftovers.
Repurpose Leftovers: Use vegetable scraps, meat bones, and other leftovers in stocks, soups, and sauces. Not only does this reduce waste, but it also provides a new revenue stream.
Offer Take-Home Options: Encourage customers to take home leftovers by providing eco-friendly takeout containers. This reduces plate waste while offering customers added value.
Track Expiry Dates: Use day-of-the-week stickers to label items nearing their expiration date, so you can prioritize their use in the kitchen.
Adopt the FIFO Method. To reduce the amount of spoilage in your restaurant, use the first-in / first-out method. In a FIFO-compliant kitchen, inventory will be well-organized and rotated regularly so the oldest items will be used first. This will cut down on food waste tremendously as the spoilage percentage is reduced.
Repurpose ingredients. Finding creative ways to use a food item in multiple dishes will not only save money through buying in bulk; it will also help you reduce wasted inventory and cut down on waste.
Compost. Turning organic waste into compost lets that waste return to the environment in the form of nutrients for the soil.
Donate unused food and ingredients. Restaurants can reduce waste and simultaneously help ease food insecurity in the community by donating food to local soup kitchens, shelters, or distribution centers.
Setting Up a Restaurant Recycling Program
Restaurants also produce a significant amount of recyclable waste, from paper napkins and aluminum cans to plastic bottles and cardboard. By setting up an effective recycling program, you can divert more waste from landfills and reduce waste disposal costs, while also promoting an eco-friendly image to your customers.
Steps to Set Up a Recycling Program:
Conduct a Waste Audit: Start by understanding what materials your restaurant is throwing away. A waste audit helps identify areas where recycling can be maximized and where waste reduction efforts should focus.
Know What Can Be Recycled: Familiarize yourself with what materials are recyclable in your area—paper, aluminum, steel, and certain plastics are commonly accepted. Avoid putting materials like Styrofoam or plastic bags into the recycling bin, as they are not recyclable.
Offer Clear Recycling Bins: Set up recycling stations in your restaurant with clear signage to help customers and staff easily sort their waste. Make sure you provide bins for different types of recyclables, such as paper, plastic, and metal.
Encourage Customer Participation: Educate your customers about your restaurant’s recycling program through signage or menu inserts. Customers are more likely to participate if they know how they can help.
A strong recycling program reduces your restaurant’s waste hauling costs and reinforces your commitment to sustainability. Plus, it can increase customer loyalty, especially among eco-conscious consumers.
More Earth Day Strategies for Restaurants
Create BYO Container Incentives: A common Earth Day promotion for businesses is to offer a recycling promotion. Create incentives for customers who bring their own to-go containers; offer a discounted drink to customers who bring in their own cups or reusable bottles; or make a game out of it by awarding bonus points to customers who use their own bags.
Promote Fair Trade or Locally-Made Products: By promoting products or menu items made with locally sourced ingredients, you’re helping protect the environment of the planet and your local community! By showcasing products that are made in fair and ethical ways in other parts of the world, you’re helping to raise awareness for the farmers and artisans that produce these products.
Organize a Local Park or Playground Clean-up: Gather your team and head to a local park or outdoor space to pick up trash and clean up the area. Be sure to wear t-shirts or other gear displaying your restaurant’s logo. Invite your customers on social media, and of course, don’t forget to let the local press know about your efforts.
Start a Community Garden: “Greenify'' your immediate surroundings, cost-effectively expand your inventory, and create an ongoing earth-friendly promotional opportunity by starting an organic community garden. Not only can you use the produce you grow in your own restaurant, but you could create a weekly co-op farmers’ market to sell your wares.
Create a Sustainable Menu: Sustainable foods are types of foods that are grown or reared in a manner that limits their negative impact on the environment and the communities that produce them. Besides environmental factors, sustainable eating also focuses on the way animals are raised and slaughtered and how farmers are treated and paid.
Localize Your Supply Chain: One of the simplest ways to practice sustainability is to source your produce locally. If you don’t always source your produce from local farms, Earth Day is an excellent opportunity to shine some light on the hardworking farmers in your community by sourcing at least some menu items from local crops.
Go Plant-based: Green eating is becoming one of the simplest ways customers and businesses alike can make an impact on the environment. Reducing the amount of meat (or eliminating it altogether) is a great way to decrease your restaurant’s carbon footprint.
Buy in Bulk: While less is usually more when it comes to sustainability, that isn’t always the case. For some ingredients, it can be less wasteful to buy in bulk – think dry pasta, nuts, and spices.
Take Away
Earth Day may be an annual event, but incorporating these sustainable practices into your daily operations will not only help the environment but also benefit your restaurant’s bottom line.
By using ugly produce, reducing food waste, investing in sustainable packaging, and setting up an efficient recycling program, you create a restaurant experience that your customers can feel good about supporting. Plus, as sustainability becomes increasingly important to consumers, these efforts will help ensure that your restaurant remains competitive in an eco-conscious marketplace.
Remember, it’s easy being green—with a little creativity and commitment, you can make your restaurant a leader in sustainability.
By Eileen Strauss
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