For the last OFR roundup of the year we have some positive news to share. The growing amount of takeout waste is a problem we can solve. One of our local Ocean Friendly Restaurants, GOODONYA, is showing how it can be done. They have created a nearly waste free takeout process, including a new partnership with M’Porte, a reusable container exchange program. Read the message below from the GOODONYA team which further explains all that they are doing. And hopefully you can pay them a visit next time you’re in Encinitas. It makes all the difference when businesses hold themselves accountable to their values; it means we can too. We're so thankful for GOODONYA and all of the OFR’s that give us the opportunity make better choices for our community and the world.
A message from the GOODONYA team:
GOODONYA has been committed to sustainable practices since 2001, but we never stop trying to be the best we can be. First and foremost, and something often overlooked when talking about sustainability in restaurants, is we serve organic food. We are 99% organic and 100% Non-GMO. The way we grow our food has a massive impact on our waterways and environment.
- We also use compostable, plastic free to go containers, bags, napkins and to go silverware.
- We banned all drinks in single use plastic bottles, including our own drink, GOODONYA HYDRATE. I reformulated it into a powder and we now sell it in a paper pouch. The only electrolyte powder in the world not in plastic.
- We banned plastic and paper straws, and provide glass straws for guests dining in.
- We compost all of our food scraps, sending some to a biodynamic farm so they can in turn grow food for us.
To go packaging during the pandemic increased 4x. GOODONYA partnered with M’Porte to further our commitment to being an Ocean Friendly Restaurant. We offer stainless steel reusable to go containers in an exchange program. Customers buy into the program for a one-time $25 fee and receive a stainless steel to go container vs packaging. They simply exchange the one they bought next time they come in and we package their food in one that has been cleaned and sanitized.
The environmental impact on a global level from restaurant waste is staggering.
GOODONYA is committed to being part of the solution.