CFE minutes 081015 - Laserfiche WebLink

Browse Search

2 Zander presented her board’s plans for a “Green Restaurant Challenge” for CFE consideration and potential collaboration. She said restaurants would be evaluated based on four criteria: energy consumption, water consumption, waste reduction, and local sourcing. Zander said she has conferred with Brennan Bouma because of his experience with the Triangle Green Business Challenge while with Triangle J Council of Governments. She has also conferred with Blair Pollock and Muriel Williman with the Orange County Solid Waste Management department. Zander asked whether the CFE would be interested in collaborating with her board, and possibly expanding the “challenge” to restaurants operating throughout Orange County. She noted that one of the CFE’s objectives is to increase food composting. CFE members asked questions and offered their ideas:  Hintz asked if there would be prizes awarded. Zander said the winners would be recognized with good public relations. She noted Person County had a guidebook to restaurants and highlighted those with sustainable practices.  Wegman asked if the idea has been discussed with sample restaurants. Zander has spoken with two owners who noted monitoring waste would be difficult.  Hintz asked staff if there would be any problem for the County to participate, such as listing winning restaurants on its website. Shaw said it should be alright to list the winners based on the contest criteria, but he would need to check.  Sassaman asked how much variation might there be among different restaurants; and noted a restaurant’s size would affect its ability to achieve efficiencies. Zander said they need to find equitable ways to measure success, such as basing on number of patrons, percentage change, or most improved.  Neal said evaluating energy consumption would also be challenging due to some restaurants using leased space versus owning the building outright and being able to make changes. Gronback suggested dividing them into two categories.  O’Connor suggested promoting financial incentives, such as rebates.  Hintz noted a countywide campaign would also include Mebane, Hillsborough, and Carrboro. He asked how the challenge would work. Zander said she envisions a six-week contest, beginning with publicity, baseline measures at the participating restaurants, documenting any changes, and tallying results.  Cada said the variability of restaurant buildings makes it difficult to make comparisons. It may be better to recognize restaurants for the percent of improvements made for different measures over the time period.  Neal said this contest should be a positive and educational opportunity that encourages participation. He suggested that “just by playing, you win.”  Shaw said rather than using detailed metrics perhaps the contest could ask participants to simply tell what they have done to reduce waste, or reduce energy or water consumption, or to increase local sourcing. Keep it open and subjective.  O’Connor suggested introducing some social justice element, such as the percentage of unused food that is donated to another organization. Zander thanked CFE members for these ideas and asked if anyone wished to help plan for the contest in a smaller group discussion. Wegman, Neal, and Gronback offered their assistance. Sassaman thanked those members and asked Neal to report back.