A Columbus restaurant is going green.
J. Broussard”s has become the first restaurant in Columbus to turn much of its waste management operations over to a recycling company.
“All plastic, aluminum and glass — and with beer and wine bottles there”s a lot of glass — are going to be taken care of. It works out to be about 75 percent of what we used to throw in the garbage can,” said J. Broussard”s Head Chef Beth Rogers.
The restaurant has worked out a deal with Golden Triangle Waste Services to recycle their tossed out materials.
“The best part about it is they are actively trying to make it easy for businesses,” Rogers said. “Instead of the old way where you had to separate everything yourself, you put it all in one bin and they just take it to their plant.”
The recycling deal costs the restaurant an additional $30 in what they used to spend on garbage bills, but Rogers said the money doesn”t enter into it.
“You can”t say it”s a business decision, because it”s not about money. What we really wanted to do is set an example in the restaurant community,” she said.
Rogers wasn”t sure exactly how much recyclable waste the restaurant produced, but she did say it was considerable.
“The company is going to send me some stats once we get started, but we”re talking about five or six 96 gallon tubs a week, at least,” she said.
The recycling effort isn”t the only way the restaurant is lowering the amount of waste it produces. Rogers is also cutting the fat with an agreement made between the business and candle maker Chris McDill. Instead of buying disposable tea lights, McDill refills the candle holders at J. Broussard”s.
“We were going through several of those little plastic candles a week, but now our guy comes and fills these up once a week,” said Rogers. “So now there”s no waste there at all.”
In the end, Rogers wants to set an example for other restaurant owners in the community.
“Restaurants are a major producer of waste,” said Rogers. “I really want to use the opportunity of us doing it to try and put a business push on other restaurants who told Triangle Waste Services they wouldn”t recycle with them. Because the people who own lots of restaurants have too much power to not take responsibility for this. I really hope once they see it isn”t taking a lot of extra effort for us, they”ll decide to do it too.”
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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