Posts Tagged ‘restaurant’

What a coincidence! Some days ago I blogged about how bad eco-restaurants are in general with their greenwash, and how little science is behind their marketing, However, I was just invited to the opening of the first Otarian restaurant in the UK (Soho, London), and these guys are great! 

 

Otarian, London

They have calculated the carbon footprint of each of their meals and have managed to reduce the footprint compared to similar meals, mainly by eliminating the meat which is where most of the impact is. Their marketing focuses on the difference in CO2 and they call it ‘Carbon Credit’, which the customer accumulates in a sort of loyalty card.

A great approach which is based on JUST THE FACTS!

www.otarian.com

I went to one of the most famous restaurants in London. They claim to be ‘the first totally eco friendly’ restaurant in London. With that claim, ‘bad start’ I thought. Let’s see whether they can substantiate this claim.

All their branding is about natural and organic products. No mention to carbon footprint. No consideration given to the fact that meat has several times more footprint than vegetables. Then I ordered a coke and of course they don’t have it, big American multinationals don’t fit into the organic and green movement. Well … if you look at the facts, you might be surprise to know that the water efficiency of coke is better that other drinks. I still haven’t found any research that proves that edelweiss flower or another of these fringe drinks that are served by fringe eco restaurants have less impact that coke. And wine has even more impact, but if you call it organic it’s ok. So in their winelist they had organic wine of course … all the way from New Zealand!!!!

If you want to be green, please cut the fluff and show me the facts. Do a proper analysis on your products and impacts. And then take actions that show progress rather than pretending everything is fine.