Step By Step, Changes Add Up To Green Savings
Having a hard time trying figure how to get a start on turning your company green? Start with little things, pocket some savings and then build on that success. It’s a strategy helping the Chipotle Mexican Grill chain polish its eco-friendly image. The company started its push to be a sustainable operation by using environmentally friendly materials to build its small retail outlets.
The restaurant chain routinely uses:
- Paints and sealants with low-solvent content (less air pollution)
- Recycled drywall and stainless steel (keeping things out of landfills)
- Photocell light controls that balance electric and natural light (more comfortable for workers, customers), and
- Highly insulated windows that cut heating and cooling costs (saving money).
That success paved the way for the chain’s just announced plan to use solar power at 75 restaurants and get them off the electricity grid during daylight hours.
The solar panels will turn Chipotle into a power generator. It’ll produce 500 kilowatt hours of electricity from solar power. Once the panels are in place at the 75 eateries, Chipotle will be the largest direct producer of solar power in the restaurant industry.
The solar panels will be supplied by Houston-based Standard Renewable Energy at restaurants in cities with reliable sunlight, such as Austin, Dallas, San Antonio and Denver.
In addition to cutting costs, the solar power will generate credits for reducing 41 million pounds of carbon dioxide emissions.
Chipotle has also invested in wind power. A restaurant in Gurnee, IL, features its own wind turbine. It also captures stormwater to reuse for irrigation purposes.
The restaurant chain’s founder and CEO, Steve Ells, makes the green thing happen for his chain and the eco-friendly, business savvy changes include many innovations in addition to clean, renewable power generation. His commitment to sustainability has the company leading its industry in use of:
- Meat from animals raised in a sustainable manner without use of antibiotics or added hormones
- Vegetarian diets for animals
- Organic and locally grown produce, and
- Milk, cheese and sour cream from cows that are free of the synthetic hormone rBGH.
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