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THE PURPOSEThe aim of this guide is to encourage restaurants, bars, and cafes to consider incorporating more sustainable business practices into the operations of the restaurant.. We wil

SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS

GUIDE

CHICAGO - 47TH WARD

THE PURPOSE

The aim of this guide is to encourage restaurants, bars, and cafes to

consider incorporating more sustainable business practices into the

operations of the restaurant We aim to provide strategies and ideas for practices to include, as well as tips and tricks on how to incorporate them for new and existing restaurants We will discuss simple but effective ways

to reduce energy use and waste, how to source sustainable food, and how sustainability can become part of the business model

Embracing sustainable business practices can be daunting, but this

guide will assist with the pegging question, “Why is sustainability

important?” According to the Corporate Social Responsibility guide,

consumers are 87% more likely to trust a company and 88% be more loyal

to a company that supports a social and environmental issue This is

especially important to small businesses like those in the 47th ward

because word-of mouth advertising is crucial to their success According

to a study conducted by IBM, “69% of environmentally-conscious buyers willingly pay a premium for recycled products, and more than half of

these buyers are ready to change their shopping habits to reduce

negative impact on the environment.” Lastly, according to the Mckinsey survey on business sustainability, businesses overall tend to see a

reduction in operation costs and an increase in efficiency.

It has been shown over and over again that businesses that adopt

sustainable practices can perform better than those who continue with THE REASON

TABLE OF CONTENTS

WATER - - - 2

ENERGY - - - 4

WASTE - - - 6

OTHER - - - 9

-water audit -water saving retrofits -case study

-smart thermostats -energy audit

-motion sensing -train your staff

-waste audit -compost -small tips -hand dryers

-localize food -train your staff -IGBA certification

-donate food -use/discount leftovers -case studies

WATER

WATER AUDIT

WATER SAVING RETROFITS

Assessing your water usage - Restaurants

generally use a lot of water, so you may want to

consider doing a water audit The water

calculator from the Alliance for Water Efficiency

calculates how much water you use and helps

highlight areas that can be made more efficient

The calculator is free, and though it is meant for

residential use, it can also give your restaurant

valuable information

Resources like this page from the EPA offer more in depth information on the

WaterSense label and also provide lists of WaterSense products

Resources such as the Consultivo Water Audit or

Alliance for Water Efficiency's water calculator

can help you assess your usage

Installing WaterSense products such as toilets, faucets, and pre-rinse spray valves help

to save water and money WaterSense toilets use around 1.28 gallons per flush, while

toilets installed before 1994 use 3.5 gallons per flush WaterSense faucets use less than 1.5 gallons a minute, while standard faucets use 2.2 gallons per minute By changing your

faucets to more efficient models, you can save 570 gallons per year! Replacing these

fixtures can not only save water, but save you a good chunk on your water bill

Upgrade to an ENERGY STAR certified dishwasher These use an average of 1,000

fewer gallons per week than old inefficient commercial dishwashers

CASE STUDY

Beans and Bagels Café uses all new appliances that have been purchased in the past 5 years and are ENERGY STAR certified

2

ENERGY

ENERGY AUDIT

Find more info about the energy audit

here

SMART THERMOSTATS

Installing a smart thermostat can help you save energy and money on your electric bill You can control the temperature remotely from your smart phone, and allow the thermostat to automatically adjust based on habits Smart thermostats have shown us that a 1 degree change over 8 hours can save 1% on your total energy bill

For help with installation and tuning, ComEd offers assistance

Interested in finding a smart thermostat? Look here

A free facility assessment is

available if you are a ComEd

Customer An engineer will come out

and help identify areas to improve your

restaurant’s energy efficiency They will

likely check your restaurant lighting

(and whether they are motion sensor

controlled), HVAC system, kitchen

appliances, and more to make sure

everything is as energy efficient as

possible

TRAIN YOUR STAFF

Training your staff to ensure that lights are turned off when an area is not in use, and that equipment is only on when it needs to be can both save energy and save you money on your electric bill

MOTION SENSING

Installing motion activated lights in hallways and bathrooms helps conserve energy by only having the lights on when that area is in use There are a wide variety

of motion activated lights on the market

4

WASTE

COMPOST

WASTE AUDIT

SMALL TIPS

Weigh your trash! Auditing your garbage may seem strange, but it is a great way to

better understand the waste your restaurant creates and help identify waste that can be

recycled or composted You can do this yourself by weighing and sorting through your

garbage bins to determine how much of various items are thrown away and if they should

be disposed of in another way Conducting a waste audit can also expose areas where

you may want to switch to compostable alternatives so you are producing less waste Less waste also means more savings because you won’t be paying as much for packaging that you deem unnecessary

Increasing recycling can offset the number of garbage pickups per week for your

restaurant This will help you keep the cost of garbage low even when adding recycling

Set up a compost bin or schedule a

pickup! Composting diverts food waste

from going to a landfill where it will not

decompose correctly and will release

methane emissions If you are able, you

can start to compost on-site if you plan

on or are already growing some of your

own produce There are also commercial

compost pick-up programs like Collective

Resource Compost that provides a 32

gallon bin for your kitchen to compost,

and charges $24 dollars to pick up each

bin

Resources - WasteNot Compost and

Collective Resource Compost provide

services for businesses interested in

composting

Case Study - Beans & Bagels, a bagel

and coffee shop in the 47th Ward, uses

the commercial composting services

provided by Collective Resource

Composting

Switch over your takeout containers from styrofoam (most municipal

recycling programs do not accept styrofoam) to biodegradable paper, recycleable plastic or recyclable aluminum

Swap the disposable menus for reusables! Or, you can ditch the physical menu altogether and encourage customers use their phone to scan a QR code on the table that is linked to a virtual menu

6

USE/DISCOUNT LEFTOVERS

DONATE FOOD

Day old pastries might not be fresh out of the oven, but at a discounted price, who can

refuse a delicious scone or muffin?! Selling day old pastries can help minimize food

waste and keep costs lower for the business You can also try incorporating recipes that

use food scraps in them Making veggie broth out of odds and ends of vegetables is a

great place to start!

HAND DRYERS

Replace paper towels in your

restroom with electric hand

dryers This will greatly reduce

the amount of waste you, your

staff, and your customers produce

when using the restroom If this is

not an option, consider using

recycled paper towels and/or

having a bin to compost the paper

towels

Donate to local food banks! Food insecurity

is a real issue, especially in a large city such

as Chicago Places around the city accept leftover food from restaurants and

households in order to help combat these issues, while eliminating the amount of edible food going to landfills

Chicago's Food Bank is a great place to donate leftover food In addition, Food Recovery Network at Loyola University Chicago also accepts food donations

Making your prep stations more efficient can also greatly reduce the amount of

food scraps you produce - for example, there are various ways to cut produce that

maximize the amount of usable food

CASE STUDIES

The Pasta Bowl partners with Green Grease to

recycle their used cooking oil into biodiesel They

also have moved to request-only for plastic utensils

and make sure to recycle as much as possible

4.

LOCALIZE FOOD IMPORTATION

TRAIN YOUR STAFF

Sustainability can't be achieved alone! Having

staff who understand sustainability and the

motives behind transitioning to a more sustainable

business model will make it much easier to

operate a restaurant that has minimal impact on

the environment while also making it an exciting

challenge for everyone involved Training staff on

why sustainability is important in the restaurant

business and on specific ways that they can

ensure the restaurant is running sustainably will

make a world of difference Help them ensure and

report on if ingredients are being used efficiently,

and train them to turn off the water and lights

when they are not in use

Local, in-season produce is best! When you buy local, seasonal produce from small

farmers, you are supporting Chicago’s local food economy Buying seasonal produce helps ensure that the crops are not being shipped long distances to reach you Sourcing from

small farms that practice organic or sustainable farming also adds to the overall

sustainability of your business Contacting local farmers online, reaching out to other

restaurants to see which farmers they source from, or attending local farmers markets to

build relationships with the farmers themselves are all great ways to kickstart local,

sustainable sourcing of produce

Resources include farmers markets in the 47th Ward, and localharvest.org

IGBA CERTIFICATION

The Illinois Green Business Association offers a certification program that verifies your

Marketing is important! Customers care about what they buy and who they buy it from, so let them know that you are operating sustainably

Tell consumers about how you are saving energy and water, about how you are reducing or

diverting waste, and what your sustainability goals are for the future

GREEN CLEANING

Ditch the toxic chemicals Many commercial cleaning

products and disinfectants contain harmful toxins that can not

only be harmful to humans when they are consistently exposed,

but they are also detrimental to the environment Ditching the

harmful chemical cleaners for EcoLab products which are

specially-formulated commercial cleaning products that are

better for the environment, or looking for the EPA SaferChoice

seal on cleaning product bottles are two ways to reduce the

impact you have on the environment while still keeping your

space clean and sanitized

INTERIOR DESIGN CASE STUDY

Reuse and Reclaim! If you are planning

on replacing any furniture in your

restaurant or cafe, consider donating your

old furniture and opting for reclaimed

options instead of buying brand new It will

add character and uniqueness to the

space and is much more sustainable!

Inclusivity is crucial Another great tip for

interior design is to offer signage in

multiple languages for recycling and waste

sorting to ensure accessibility and

inclusivity

Beans and Bagels ensures that all

of their cleaning supplies (besides bleach which is required by the Department of Health) are either certified EPA SaferChoice or GreenSeal Certified

10

Uncommon Ground's rooftop farm webpage is a great example of how to market your business' sustainability efforts!

ABOUT THE GUIDE

GUIDE UPDATES

This guide was a semester project conducted by Loyola

University Chicago students Tim Ventrella, Cosette Ellis,

Claudia Jreisat, Giorgio Sanfratello, and Ana Huter in

partnership with the Illinois Green Business Association and the 47th Ward’s Alderman’s Office Our overall goal is to encourage businesses in the area to adopt environmentally sustainable practices through financial incentives,

strategic planning, and the increase in company value We hope this guide was helpful in informing and encouraging businesses to engage in sustainable practices

To find an updated list of resources that you can use in

conjunction with this guide, please visit this link If you have any suggestions for additional resources or case studies, email info@aldermanmartin.com