There was a time when it seemed “going green” was a luxury only independent restaurant operators could enjoy. Taking meaningful steps to save energy and water and reduce waste didn’t appear to make good business sense at the chain level.
Enter Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, the 500-unit Los Angeles-based coffeehouse chain, which recently became the largest multiunit national chain to become a Certified Green Restaurant by the Green Restaurant Association, or GRA.
The nonprofit association, based in Boston, was founded in 1990 to help restaurants find cost-effective ways to become more environmentally sustainable. It contends that restaurants account for about 33 percent of all retail electricity use in the United States, for example, so even small changes can make a big difference.
The GRA established guidelines to enable restaurant operators to change their ways as well as a certification system that lets green-minded consumers know which restaurants meet the standards.
To become certified, a restaurant must demonstrate the use of a comprehensive recycling program and be free of all polystyrene products. The restaurant also must commit to completing four steps to improve the environment per year of membership, and at least one after joining.
Those steps include increasing use of technologies that reduce and conserve the use of energy and water, for example. Restaurants could increase composting to reduce food waste, increase use of locally grown foods to cut back on transportation-related pollution. Or they could commit to using nontoxic cleaning products and renewable energy sources.
In 2003, Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf began piloting its green program in 10 San Diego locations by installing energy- and water-efficient spray valves and high-efficiency lighting. It also implemented a policy to cut down on paper cup use by asking employees to drink from reuseable porcelain cups and offering dine-in customers their choice of porcelain or paper. Additionally, all paper products must include at least 10-percent post-consumer recycled non-bleached paper. Recycling programs have been instituted where available, said Tami Clark, the chain’s vice president of marketing and strategic alliances.
This month the program was rolled out to 200 franchisor-owned branches of the chain, mostly in California and Arizona. Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf has about 500 coffeehouses worldwide, about 275 of which are owned by the company. The GRA program was presented to franchisees recently, and several expressed interest in following suit.
Steps such as putting in new lighting can be expensive, but so far the efforts have paid off. Coffee Bean estimates that the 200 stores so far involved will save an estimated $36,000 to $40,000 in the first year, and up to $1 million over the next four years.
“There’s definitely payback,” Clark said. “But it’s a social, moral and financial victory. It just makes smart business sense.”