Operating the bar in a way that reduces our negative environmental impact without undermining the guest experience is very important for me. With that in mind, here are a few of the programs that we’ve implemented to keep a smaller footprint:

In addition to replacing single-use go cups with reusable ones, we offer fifty cents in store credit for each of our branded cups returned clean to the bar. This ensures more of our cups will actually be reused instead of sitting in someones cabinet forever or getting thrown away. Getting more uses out of each cup helps us order fewer of them, which reduces the environmental costs of production and shipping. And when they get too worn to re-use, they're still recyclable.

While we feature several bottled wines, we recognize that glass is not the most eco-friendly package. Glass bottles are heavy to ship and difficult to recycle locally. Instead, we focus on alternative packaging in our wine program, seeking out quality wines in cans, boxes, and kegs. Not only are these types of packages more efficient to ship, they do a better job of preserving freshness and are often more affordable than traditional bottles.

We use bio-plastic straws, which are made from plant-based materials and are compostable in larger facilities. We also compost all food waste, citrus, and a variety of paper goods including napkins, coasters, and food trays. This allows us to divert a significant amount of waste away from landfills and towards the production of healthy fertilizer.

We recycle glass bottles, most plastics and metals, and any paper that isn’t compostable. Between our composting and recycling programs, we only throw a small fraction of our waste in the trash. This allows us to partner with our next door neighbors at Red’s Chinese to share waste disposal - they use our recycling and compost bins, and we use their dumpster for the small share of our trash that isn’t compostable or recyclable.

Do you have any ideas about how we can do better? Please let us know.