(Photo: Renata Mascarello/Flickr)
The word that seems to be on everyone’s lips as of late.
But what is the meaning of being sustainable? And how do we ensure that it lives on as more than just a buzzword?
Since 2018, we made a pledge and embarked on our Loco Green Steps program with the help of Green Is The New Black. This meant evaluating every aspect of our restaurant operations from sourcing to day-to-day workflow, and forming new processes and habits that are less taxing on the environment. The outcome of that assessment has led us to achieve the following sustainable practices:
1. Offsetting 100% of the carbon emissions of our direct operations though purchasing verifiable carbon credits.The carbon credits were generated from The North Pikounda REDD+ Project, which is a project designed to protect 92,530 hectares of unlogged native forest in the Congo from deforestation, maintaining and protecting the biodiversity of the area.
2. Eliminating single-use plastic straws and only offering a biodegradable straw on request.
3. Ensuring all our printing paper are from FSC-certified renewable sources and implementing new processes that has saved 30,000 pieces of paper being printed each year.
4. No longer choosing to buy imported bottled mineral water and replacing with premium filtered tap water which reduces the emissions from importing and disposing of glass bottles.
5. Zero use of palm oil in all operations.
6. That all chickens on our menus are free-roaming, organic-fed and non-GMO certified.
7. Implementing a sustainable operations blueprint:
- Setting a recycling infrastructure that allows for daily recycling
- Composting 100kg of food waste per week with Green Circle Farm
At Chico Loco and The Loco Group, you will never hear us say we are the most “sustainable”. Sustainability to us does not mean a race with a defined finish-line. It is an ongoing mission to make the carbon footprint we leave behind a little smaller each month, each quarter and each year.
As we continue our mission as a group to challenge ourselves to minimize our environmental impact, we invite guests, suppliers, collaborators to join us on our journey to become more sustainable in our own capacities.
We are also always on the look-out for collaborations to spread the word about sustainability or find new ways to become more sustainable ourselves. If you’re interested to collaborate with us, we’d love to hear from you!