The prodigious amount of single-use to-go boxes, pre-packaged utensils and now-notorious disposable straws makes the restaurant industry especially complicit in plastic pollution. The challenges of providing food for takeout and pickup during the current health crisis has only exacerbated restaurants’ reliance on plastic.
While many restaurants in California have put practices in place to become more environmentally friendly, the Surfrider Foundation, including a local chapter overseeing Ventura County, highlights those who make a structured commitment.
The Surfrider Foundation, a national nonprofit working to protect the beaches and oceans, created a new program in 2016 to standardize restaurants’ commitments to becoming more sustainable. Following up on the success of their Ocean Friendly Gardens initiative, the Ocean Friendly Restaurant (OFR) program recognizes bars, bistros and fine-dining establishments that pledge to dramatically reduce their environmental impact.
Restaurants that receive OFR designation are promoted by the Surfrider Foundation, marked on an online map that charts members nationally and also receive branding distinguishing their business as “ocean friendly.” In Ventura County, La Cosecha at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Sage Ojai, Paradise Pantry, The Five07, Harvest Cafe, Coastal Grill at Embassy Suites Mandalay Bay and others participate in the program.
Laura Oergel, chair for the Ventura County chapter of the Surfrider Foundation, explained that an important part of OFR is educating businesses about sustainable practices.
Education and advocacy on the part of the Surfrider Foundation and other environmental organizations have made big impacts in the county. In February, the City Council of Ventura voted to move forward with a ban on Styrofoam use. “We’re excited about the awareness that the ordinance will create,” Oergel says, noting the campaign has already raised consumer interest in the impact of takeout and to-go containers.
The timing of putting the new ban into place has been challenging. Local restaurants are facing considerable difficulties because of COVID-19 health regulations.
“Our ability to use reusable dishware from customers has unfortunately been affected,” says Robert Glover of Harvest Café in downtown Ventura. “Reusable dishware is our preferred to-go container and we often sell them and promote their use through discounts. We are, unfortunately, not able to do that in the short term.”
Although all of Harvest Café’s to-go containers are compostable, Glover points out that losing the ability to dine in “just creates much more waste in general.”
Tina Thayer of Paradise Pantry also acknowledges the difficulty in shifting their business model entirely to takeout. “We had to move from green biodegradable ramekins to ones that are recyclable,” she says, noting that their usual supplier has not been able to provide the volume they need at this time.
Given the number of emergency measures that have been drafted in response to the COVID-19 crisis, the ordinance on Styrofoam has not yet gone back to City Council to sign into law.
Although it’s a work in progress, the commitment still signals an important victory for the OFR program—and for residents throughout the county. Less plastic used at local dining establishments means less plastic on our beaches and in the ocean. Through programs like Ocean Friendly Restaurants, and with action generated from policies like Ventura’s proposed ban, our community and our children will benefit from a cleaner, healthier coastal environment for years to come.
As a consumer, you can encourage your favorite restaurant to join The Surfrider Foundation Ocean-Friendly Restaurant (...
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