One of the best ways to make your kitchen green is by recycling your used cooking oil. Being sustainable is contagious and can lead you to adopt more environmental practices that will help you reduce your waste and create more value for your community. SeQuential has outlined next steps you can take in your kitchen to reduce your environmental footprint.
Limiting Food Waste
Recycling your used cooking oil can also make you more aware of other ways you can reuse or reduce materials in use in the kitchen. Keeping your kitchen well stocked with the ingredients you need to meet your customers’ demand is integral to keeping the operation running smoothly. However, if you find yourself throwing away large amounts of food at the end of the week because it is old and moldy, then you may be ordering too much from your supplier. Evaluate how much of each ingredient you use throughout a normal day and when you are most likely to use it so you can order the perfect amount every time.
This practice can also be employed at the front of the house. Offering take home bags for your guests’ leftovers can help reduce waste minimizing the need to scrape partially full plates of food into the trash. If you find that your staff is constantly throwing away uneaten food, you may need to adjust your portion sizes. Any unused food that is still good for consumption can be donated to a local homeless shelter to reduce your environmental footprint while also helping your local community.
Start a Compost Pile
Even after you have taken steps to limit the amount of food waste in your restaurant, there will be some left over to dispose of at the end of each day. Instead of throwing these scraps in the trash, start a compost pile. Composting your food provides a host of benefits to the local soil, including:
- Helps soil retain moisture to boost plant growth while also limiting pests and diseases that harm plants.
- Eliminates the use of chemical fertilizers, which can run off when it rains and affect wildlife if it is ingested.
- Promotes the growth of good bacteria and fungi that breaks down organic matter into nutrient-rich soil.
- Limits the amount of space taken up and methane emissions from landfills.
Before you start composting, make sure you do the proper research so you are aware of what can or can’t be composted and can create the ideal conditions for your pile.
Transform Your Business
Recycling your used cooking oil can kick off a chain reaction of environmental mindedness that delivers benefits to your business and community. At SeQuential, we share this mindset by striving to get the most out of our used oil collection services. All the cooking oil we collect in your containers is used to create renewable fuel, a sustainable and locally sourced fuel that delivers high performance with a low carbon footprint… If you would like to start making your business and kitchen more sustainable, contact us to receive a collection container and get your oil picked up for free.