One of the most interesting categories at the Glasgow Restaurant Awards is the Greenest Restaurant prize. The shortlist for the award comprises the recently opened Cup Tea Lounge, Urban Bar and Brasserie plus the newly refurbished Bonne Auberge.
The idea of a green restaurant is a relatively new but it is an increasingly important one. We asked Ian Gulland of Zero Waste Scotland, sponsors of the award, to explain why restaurants need to up their green game.
Reduce waste
According to Mr Gulland, ‘An estimated 53,500 tonnes of food waste is disposed of annually by the Scottish hospitality sector, two thirds of which could have been eaten. By reducing this waste and increasing recycling, restaurants in Glasgow could become more resource efficient and save money, as well as complying with new recycling regulations which will come into force next year.
‘As such, we’re delighted to be supporting the Greenest Restaurant Award, which will showcase businesses which are already leading the way in reducing their waste and managing the value of all resources.’
Among other criteria, the panel of mystery judges were looking for restaurants that could provide evidence of measures to reduce food and associated packaging waste; efforts to minimise the use of energy and water and partnerships with other businesses in the supply chain to help reduce waste.
Bottom line
While reducing waste helps the environment, it also makes sound economic sense for both restaurant owners and customers. Restaurants which cut waste and save money can maintain prices. As one of the mystery judges out it, ‘Glasgow’s restaurants are behind the Glasgow Tourism Sustainability Project and those taking it seriously are seeing the net benefits that being green has upon their bottom line. Lots of effort is being made to be more sustainable because it makes complete fiscal sense, as well as doing our bit for the environment.
One of the finalists, Paul Reynolds, proprietor of Cup Tea Lounge, said:
‘To be in the final three for the greenest restaurant at this year’s Glasgow Restaurant Awards is a huge honour. Sustainability and environmental issues should be at the top of agenda for every commercial business and it is fantastic that the awards are helping raise awareness of this within Glasgow’s restaurant industry.
‘At Cup we are passionate about helping the environment through our day-to-day operations. From small things like encouraging our customers to take everything home, to investing in state-of-the-art equipment in our premises. This will remain an important part of Cup’s business model as we continue to grow.’
Urban bees
In day to day operations, this means policies such as using low voltage light sources and biodegradable packaging as well as efficient stock management to reduce waste. Alan Tomkins, proprietor of Urban Bar & Brasserie, also practises efficient stock control to minimise waste. At Urban Brasserie, sustainable sourcing is another key part of their green strategy. For example, the business is involved in the Urban Bees project, where honey is sourced from Glasgow’s bee population.
‘As a business we are very conscious of the role we play in the environment and are constantly looking at improving our business model in relation to environmental issues,’ said Mr Tomkins. ‘We are thrilled to be in the final three for the Glasgow Restaurant Awards’ Greenest Restaurant of the Year.’
The winners of all the categories will be announced at the Glasgow Restaurant Awards Ceremony at the Citz Theatre on Monday.