Restaurant Green Zone

 

The Alliance of Beverage Licensees of British Columbia has added their name to the growing roster of industry supporters for the Bar and Restaurant Green Zone.  

 

The “Restaurant Green Zone” recognition program rewards participating restaurants within British Columbia for recycling their used frying/cooking oil. This program pays for the used oil and publicly recognizes those restaurants as helping create a renewable energy.  The Restaurant Green Zone pays $0.05 per litre for qualifying used non-hydrogenated frying oil. However, the restaurant has the option of donating their payment to the Heart and Stroke Foundation of British Columbia.

The Program is managed by ERM BioSource which is a participating member of the Recycling Council of British Columbia. “This is the ONLY program that exclusively benefits British Columbia by creating renewable energies and products from used frying oil that is earth friendly,” says Mairi Welman Director of Communications for RCBC.

The Program started in BC’s Lower Mainland and has expanded into the Okanagan bringing their total number of participating restaurants to almost 500.

“ABLE BC is pleased to add our name to the growing list of Green Zone supporters. We encourage our members to make the right decision for the environment and sign up for this program” says Kim Haakstad Executive Director of ABLE BC.

Participating ABLE BC members will get a sticker saying they are part of the Pub and Restaurant Green Zone and a free listing on the Restaurant Green Zone Website. Customers will know to frequent participating establishments because they help the environment.

ERM BioSource, following the lead of the Heart and Stroke Foundation has launched the CONVERT Campaign for those restaurants that do not qualify for the program due to poor oil. ERM BioSource has secured special pricing incentives from major food distributors including Neptune Foods and Sysco Food Service, to help bars and restaurants switch to non hydrogenated oils. Some municipalities are also getting on board with recognition programs for restaurants that convert.