PRESS RELEASE
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National Restaurant Association
Launches Conserve Initiative to Educate and Inspire Restaurants to
'Go Green'
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Web
site to feature educational resources and tools, tips
and success stories to increase environmental efforts in
the restaurant industry
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CHICAGO, May 19, 2008
/PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The National Restaurant
Association today is launching "Conserve: Solutions for
Sustainability," an initiative designed to support the
nation's nearly one million restaurant and foodservice
locations as they become more eco-friendly, at the
Association's annual Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show in
Chicago. The $558 billion restaurant industry is
committed to finding solutions to lessen its
environmental impact while maintaining economic
vitality. The Conserve Web site will educate
restaurateurs on how taking small steps over time - or
bigger steps for those who choose to do so - can make a
difference for the future of our planet, as well as be
positive for business.
"We are launching Conserve to raise awareness and
provide resources and information about eco-friendly
practices to the entire restaurant and foodservice
community," said Dawn Sweeney, President and CEO of the
National Restaurant Association. "We believe this
initiative will prove to be a great step toward an
environmentally sound future while preserving the
vitality of our industry."
The Web site, conserve.restaurant.org, will serve as one
of the initiative's primary resources for helping
restaurateurs move toward sustainable or "green"
operations. In addition to providing tips and resources,
the site will feature stories from several restaurants
that have successfully implemented environmentally
friendly practices. As restaurants develop new methods
of decreasing their environmental footprint, new case
studies will be added to provide insight into best
practices and lessons learned through the process of
going "green." Initially focused on energy, water and
construction, the site will grow over time to include
other aspects of sustainability, including recycling,
packaging, cleaning supplies and food and beverages.
"The National Restaurant Association represents more
than 380,000 member locations, and no two of them are
alike," said Niki Leondakis, COO of Kimpton Hotels and
Restaurants and chairman of the National Restaurant
Association's Green Task Force.
"All restaurants, no matter how large or small - from
big corporations with thousands of franchised locations
to small, independent neighborhood eateries - can do
their part, at the pace they can sustain, to reduce our
industry's impact on the environment and conserve
resources for future generations," said Leondakis.
Many restaurants and foodservice operations are already
underway in their environmental planning. In fact,
nearly one-third of restaurants say they are allocating
a larger percentage of their budget toward "green"
initiatives this year, according to Association
research, and the second hottest trend in kitchen
equipment is environmental friendliness. More than half
of restaurants have also updated heating, air
conditioning and refrigeration systems over the past two
years in order to conserve water and energy.
Since not all restaurants can commit financial resources
to environmentally friendly upgrades, the Association
aims to provide tools and resources through the Conserve
Web site on ways to "go green" at little or no cost.
Some steps are simple, such as turning off lights,
unplugging equipment not in use, and running only fully
loaded racks of dishes through dishwashers. Regardless
of the size and number of locations, all restaurants can
implement some no-cost or low-cost practices that will
reduce their environmental impact, conserve natural
resources, and potentially decrease energy and water
consumption expenses.
The Web site also features success stories of
eco-friendly practices or products that involve an
initial investment, but ultimately pay for themselves in
savings from energy and water efficiency. Some examples
of these practices include installing low-flow valves
for pre-rinse sprayers, low gallons per flush toilets,
energy efficient refrigerators and other appliances, and
replacing incandescent with fluorescent lighting.
One of the large chains experiencing early success,
particularly with eco-friendly construction practices,
is HYPERLINK "http://www.subway.com/subwayroot/index.aspx"
Subway Restaurants. Subway opened several "Eco Stores,"
beginning in 2007 in Kissimmee, Fla., and plans are
underway for additional Eco Stores, which are
constructed using green practices to make them energy
efficient. Subway worked closely with the U.S. Green
Building Council to follow their Leadership in Energy
Efficiency and Environmental Design (LEED) certification
requirements in order to build stores that conserve both
energy and water.
"We have more locations than any other restaurant chain
in the United States, and more than 29,200 Subway stores
worldwide," said Tom Coba, Subway's Chief Operations
Officer. "As a leader in the industry, Subway is
constantly developing methods for each of our locations,
not just our Eco Stores, to conserve resources,
including switching to napkins made of 100 percent
recycled materials, which will save 140,000 trees a
year, and redesigning our shipping packaging, which will
eliminate over 97,000 pounds of plastic annually."
Sheboygan, Wis.-based HYPERLINK "http://www.foodspot.com/nonnamaria/"
Osteria Nonna Maria, a single location restaurant
serving pizza and Italian cuisine, has reduced its water
consumption by half and reduced their energy bill
through investing in two "tankless," on-demand water
heaters. Housed in a 1800s-era building, Nonna Maria
wanted to replace its existing water system.
By switching to an on-demand system that can heat local
water supply from 38 degrees to 185 in a matter of
minutes, the restaurant saves water and energy by
heating only the water required for a specific purpose,
rather than heating all of the water in a tank. The
restaurant also made additional system upgrades for
water consumption, including installation of low-flush
toilets and low-pressure faucets in the kitchen sinks.
"When we had the opportunity to upgrade our systems, we
wanted to do our part to be environmentally friendly,"
said Mary Jo Beniger, owner of Osteria Nonna Maria. "We
quickly found that in addition to helping the
environment, our water consumption was reduced by up to
50 percent. The money we spent on the new systems was
great for our business, and the systems are paying for
themselves through our utility savings."
Partial funding to launch the Conserve initiative was
supplied through a grant from the Turner Foundation. The
Turner Foundation, dedicated to creating solutions for
sustainable living, is a founding partner of the
initiative.
"The National Restaurant Association and our members are
concerned about the environmental impact of our
industry," adds Sweeney. "We look forward to helping the
industry become more focused on sustainability through
the Conserve initiative."
The National Restaurant Association, founded in 1919, is
the leading business association for the restaurant
industry, which is comprised of 945,000 restaurant and
foodservice outlets and a work force of 13.1 million
employees - making it the cornerstone of the economy,
career opportunities and community involvement. Along
with the National Restaurant Association Educational
Foundation, the Association works to represent, educate
and promote the rapidly growing industry. For more
information, visit our Web site at http://www.restaurant.org/.
Source: National Restaurant Association
CONTACT: Sue Hensley, +1-202-331-5964,
shensley@restaurant.org, or Annika Stensson,
+1-202-973-3677,
astensson@restaurant.org, both of National
Restaurant Association
Web Site:
http://conserve.restaurant.org/
http://www.restaurant.org/
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