The Jolly Green Giant

I am not a big believer in spring cleaning. Who wants to waste the first glorious days of spring cleaning? After all, spring means new life, rebirth and the promise of margaritas on a sunshiny deck.

Now that I've got you salivating over icy, salty drinks, I will remind you that it is only January. I kick off the New Year with my favorite pastime (besides the margaritas) which I loosely term Getting Your Act Together Before I Haul Away Everything You Ever Loved. I start with the Christmas decorations and once I get just a little taste of that power I start tearing into closets, drawers, and cabinets. My children, looking petrified, scramble for their favorite toys and search for a hiding spot that I have yet to uncover. I found three stuffed animals and a ripped Dr. Seuss book shoved in a pillow sham. Amateurs.

Still, there is something so satisfying about opening a linen closet and not having everything topple. And something even more satisfying about knowing that the stuff you give away is only going to benefit those in need. The green movement was such a hot topic for such a long time that I, admittedly, grew a bit jaded. For a time, it was such a fad that I felt people were getting on the bandwagon simply because it was the thing to do. But a lot of the green initiatives stuck for good.

A catering company doesn't immediately pop into focus when you're pondering frontrunners in the jolly green giant category, but ohhhh you'd be surprised. We've been donating food to the hungry and homeless for almost 30 years - a no-brainer. But once we started tracking other numbers, we realized we really were making a difference. In 2008 we recycled more than 100,000 pounds of aluminum, cardboard, plastics and paper goods which equates to somewhere in the ballpark of 55 tons. Yes...TONS. Combine that with the stainless steel, metal, iron and copper we started tracking in 2009 and we're talking about 6,000 more pounds. In October we put a composting pilot program in place which resulted in 3 tons of food waste in a mere 10 weeks. We even recycled 95% of our new building which had been a restaurant and is now our culinary headquarters. As I type, I am sitting in what once was the service bar - the perfect spot for me.

We're on to something. Which makes me think we could all be on to something? Something big. With a little forethought and work by the kitchen and stewarding departments, we aren't going green - we are green. And we're just one company.

So take this January to re-evaluate how you are going to affect change in 2010. We've all been so busy keeping our businesses afloat that it's easy to forget about the whole world out there for which we are all partially responsible. And by working together, as an industry, we can accomplish a ton. Actually - TONS.

For more information on how you can take your organization to the next green level, visit www.greenmeetings.info.

Stephanie Blackford
Epicurean Culinary Group
www.epicureanculinarygroup.com
sblackford@epicureanCG.com