Creating a green commercial kitchen is an important task in today’s world. With the rapid climate changes, we are all responsible for saving our planet. While your individual carbon emission might not feel like much, when combined with millions of restaurants in the world, it makes a big difference. Change can start in your kitchen and spread to the community you serve. Start creating your green commercial kitchen and be a part of the fight against climate change.
How to Create a Green Commercial Kitchen?
“Going Green” has a bad reputation among the public due to the greenwashing that major corporations have done in recent years. Despite the bad rep and common disbelief, going green is certainly a viable option, and it can improve your life while contributing to the planet’s future.
There are many ways to make your kitchen more sustainable: Changes in machinery and methods can achieve a green commercial kitchen. You can upgrade your kitchen appliances, opt for more sustainable materials, and start paying closer attention to your day-to-day processes to minimize your impact on the environment.
Why Create a Green Commercial Kitchen?:
Creating a properly green commercial kitchen has many benefits. By incorporating eco-friendly practices and equipment, commercial kitchens can save money in the long run and contribute to a healthier planet.
- Reducing your carbon footprint is a small step for you but a big step for humanity.
- Spreading the environmental message to your customer base is an easy form of activism. You can play a role in the fight against climate change and make a difference.
- Laws regulating the energy-spending of establishments such as restaurants and hotels are increasing. EU and America are becoming more strict with their carbon emission, and the regulation changes will likely force you to make the necessary changes. Taking the lead on this change could save you the trouble of dealing with fines.
- There are already many codes you need to follow regarding energy spending. It is worth checking out whether your current equipment is up to code and making the necessary upgrades if they aren’t.
- You can save a lot of money on bills by switching to energy star equipment and watching your spending.
12 Quick Tips for Green Commercial Kitchen
You can give these twelve ideas a try to make your kitchen more eco-friendly and make a difference:
1. Invest in Energy Star equipment: Energy-Star equipment is built to save as much energy as possible. Upgrading your machinery to energy-efficient models is a great first step.
2. Minimize Waste: You can minimize waste by accurately estimating your service needs and capacity. You can keep tabs on how much you produce and serve for a month to understand your needs and arrange your production accordingly. Try to monitor the use of your stored products by following the rule of first-in, first-out, and try to repurpose the excess materials.
3. Minimize The Use of Plastic: You can minimize the use of plastic by applying reusable utensils and plates. If you are offering take-out, opt for paper bags and ask your customers not to require plastic utensils if they don’t need them.
4. Raise Awareness: Changing your own ways is a great start, but spreading the word is the best. By hanging posters on the subject or offering sustainable materials such as reusable utensils, you can become a green commercial kitchen in your restaurant and for the whole community by raising awareness among your customers.
5. The Placement of Appliances: This can be a big factor in efficiency in your kitchen. To have a green commercial kitchen, you must pay close attention to the locations of your machinery in relation to each other. For instance, a freezer placed next to a commercial oven will need to work twice as hard to maintain its temperature level, which will reflect on your bills. Ensure that fundamentally opposing appliances aren’t placed close together and that there is enough space around the machines to work properly.
6. Solar Energy: It is a great idea if you reside in a warm location. Installing some solar panels can help you with acquiring hot water.
7. Induction Cooking: This cooking style is a very efficient form of cooking compared to electric and gas stoves. Induction cooking mechanisms utilize a magnetic field to heat your meals through the pan and skip the step of heating the furnace entirely. This leap in the process can save you a great deal of energy.
8. Recycle Your Trash: Having recycle bins and separating your garbage to the best of your abilities is a great mark of a green commercial kitchen.
9. Run the Dishwasher and Similar Equipment Once They are Full in Capacity: Running them for a couple of pieces wastes energy and water, and this small change can help you reduce your water use significantly.
10. Shop local!: Buying ingredients from local vendors and farmers will benefit your community and reduce your carbon footprint.
11. Composting: It is a great way to repurpose leftover foods. Separating and recycling organic materials will minimize waste and get organic fertilizers.
12. Make sustainability a Criterion in Your Partnership agreements: If you choose to shop from or partner with sustainable brands and producers, you will also encourage your fellow business owners to go green. Such a small change in your business plan can end up being the domino piece that sets major changes in the community in motion.
Conclusion
Green commercial kitchens are must-haves for a better and more sustainable future. Restaurants and cafes have always been around, and for communities to continue enjoying them, there are steps that need to be taken. By making the necessary changes and implementing new, more sustainable methods, you can easily create a green commercial kitchen, be a part of the change, and enjoy some great perks.
