Zero Waste Restaurant? It can be done!

It can be done. A small sandwich shop in Chicago owned and run by Justin Vraney, Sandwich Me In, has been in operation for 2 years. In that time, they have accumulated only 8 gallons of waste. No, that isn’t a typo – 8 gallons of waste over 2 years.

How did he do it?

He sees the bigger picture and has employed several different strategies to help deal with his restaurant’s waste. He buys food locally as much as possible; straight from the farmer. This means less packaging material to deal with. He reuses all of his resources and materials. The bones from the fresh chickens go into the stock pot to make soup. The crispy chicken skin shows up as crunchy salad toppings. Left-over veggies go into the burgers for the next day.

The containers that he does have (for things like milk) are all recycled. He recycles cooking oil. His customers dump their uneaten food and biodegradable paper products into a can that goes to the compost bin.

His kitchen scraps go to the farmer who supplies his eggs; to feed the chickens that lay those eggs. He even takes a step that most of us don’t consider – he refuses delivery of junk mail and items with excessive packaging.

Why does he do it?

It’s simple. He cares about the future that his children will see. He wants to set an example for others to follow.

Unexpected bonuses

Although it was not his part of his original purpose, Vraney has found that his customers really respond to the locally purchased food. He is able to keep portions within more reasonable sizes, and his customers leave satisfied and energized rather than bloated and sluggish. Another unexpected bonus has been lower than normal food costs for the restaurant. Packaging and processing costs more than we realize.

Justin Vraney is a shining example of what can be accomplished with a little creative thinking and ingenuity. (Most restaurants generate 8 gallons of waste in one hour.) If he can run a profitable restaurant without any waste, it can be done anywhere!

This was a story about zero waste, right? Oh, that 8 gallons of waste that was accumulated? An artist who works with refuse picked it up to use that too.