Education and Outreach

Brag a little: In addition to getting employees on board with Zero Waste initiatives, make sure customers are aware of your efforts.

CHAPTER 9

Education and Outreach

SPREADING THE WORD IS ALSO IMPORTANT

Many operators consider customer education to be an important facet of a successful Zero Waste plan. Keep customers informed about the implementation of new policies, through social media, the website, or signage where appropriate. Any employee who interacts with customers should be prepared to answer questions or volunteer information if the situation warrants it, such as offering to wrap up leftovers in a doggie bag. Let patrons know how they can help in waste-reduction efforts—in their lives as well as in your location.

Technomic research suggests that operators could be doing a much better job with this. For example, of the 56% of operators that donate excess food to charity—a practice that resonates with consumers—only 16% specifically communicate this effort, missing an opportunity to educate customers, improve reputation, and drive visits.

62% of consumers agree that restaurants need to do a better job of communicating their initiatives.

Some operators turn waste control into an educational event. Balzac, a wine bar in Milwaukee, has featured Sunday night “family meal” for customers, free with the price of a drink from 10 p.m. to closing—a time when many foodservice industry workers are out for a bite after their shift.

Items such as blackened tuna (made with parts of the fish not used in the tuna tartare on the regular menu), fried oysters (no longer saleable on the raw bar), and soups and stews (utilizing vegetable trim) not only use up kitchen scraps and leftovers from the past week, but help spread the gospel of garbage.

More than three-quarters (79%) of operators say they communicate food-waste reduction efforts; however, not all individual initiatives are specifically communicated.

Dialing in Employees
The goodwill and cooperation of employees is also a crucial part of food-waste reduction efforts. Managing food waste needs to be a top-down initiative from senior management, and there needs to be a coordinated communication plan to create awareness so that everyone understands their roles.

Explain the goals and objectives of Zero Waste initiatives with all staff members
Get feedback from your employees on how to operate the restaurant more efficiently to prevent waste and recycle the waste that is produced
Dedicate a food-waste bin to each prep station to identify opportunities for waste reduction and reinforce commitment on an ongoing basis
Encourage prep chefs to share prep waste-reduction strategies during staff meetings; consider sharing and soliciting tips with other operators on social media
Start every meeting with a reminder on proper separation
Consider offering training to all new employees that teaches and tests them on waste-management practices

OPERATOR SPOTLIGHT
CalDining at the University of California, Berkeley worked with the Residential Sustainability Education Coordinator Program to host “Eat the World, Save the Earth” events to encourage students to take only as much as they could eat at serve-yourself venues. Students who cleared their plates were rewarded with a small food prize, while students who wasted food had to scrape their plates into a vessel and the amount of food discarded was measured and reported throughout the evening. Students noted that they had never before thought about how much food they wasted.

^{_{Source: Technomic, “The Benefits of Waste Reduction and How to Achieve Them” (2019)}}