Contributors
The following organizations contributed time, information, and resources to the National Restaurant Association's Conserve program:
The Conserve initiative was developed with the help of a multi-year grant from the Turner Foundation. Founded in 1990 by billionaire entrepreneur and environmentalist Ted Turner, the Turner Foundation Inc. is a private, family-run foundation committed to preventing damage to our natural resources — water, air, and land — on which all life depends. The foundation focuses its grants in four areas: safeguarding habitat; engaging, organizing and empowering new constituencies to ensure the future protection of our environment; creating solutions for sustainable living; and restoring or mitigating the effects of nonsustainable practices in order to enrich our quality of life and the health of our future communities.
Conserve partners with Energy Star to provide restaurateurs with great tools and resources to help reduce energy costs. Energy Star is a voluntary program managed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to help businesses and individuals save money and protect the environment through energy efficiency. Restaurateurs can use Energy Star resources to compare equipment performance and make smart kitchen purchasing decisions. Among the program's resources for restaurateurs:
The Food Service Technology Center is a research facility dedicated to testing the energy performance of commercial kitchen equipment. The FSTC is a clearinghouse of information on appliance performance and offers expertise in areas including commercial kitchen ventilation, hot water heating, and building energy efficiency for the restaurant industry. It is funded by California utility customers and administered by the Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) under the auspices of the California Public Utilities Commission. Fisher-Nickel Inc. operates the FSTC for PG&E.
FSTC can be found on Facebook here.
Kendall College embarked on its sustainability journey in 2005 and has developed a robust sustainability curriculum and principles that guide both its educational programs and operational practices. The college's curriculum addresses everything from composting, recycling and energy conservation to sourcing locally grown, organic ingredients. The college's on-site sustainable garden explores the basics of sustainable agriculture. Kendall College advocates for environmentally friendly initiatives within the foodservice industry through speaking engagements at major industry conferences and by partnering with industry leaders in sustainability. The college is proud to be an official educational partner of the Conserve initiative.
Through a grant from the Washington Restaurant Association, the University of Washington conducted independent research to identify best practices for using energy efficiently in restaurants. With assistance from the WRA and National Restaurant Association, the university developed complimentary educational resources to support its findings. Many of these resources have been integrated into the Conserve initiative.
Partners
The National Restaurant Association partners with leading organizations to expand the restaurant industry's knowledge base, develop resources to support our members, and bring more sustainability-related products to the restaurant industry.
Foodservice Packaging Institute
Foodservice packaging is an important physical symbol of many restaurant brands. The National Restaurant Association has cultivated a partnership with the Foodservice Packaging Institute (FPI), the leading authority on foodservice packaging. With FPI, we sponsored the first Foodservice Packaging Recovery Summit in 2012 to bring together participants from across the packaging value chain to identify challenges and solutions for recycling foodservice packaging in restaurants.
The Food Waste Reduction Alliance (FWRA) is a collaborative effort of the Grocery Manufacturers Association, the Food Marketing Institute, and the National Restaurant Association. The FWRA’s mission is to reduce the volume of food sent to landfills and finding ways to donate or recycle unavoidable food waste.
The US Composting Council (USCC) is the national association for the compost industry. The USCC is involved in research, public education, and the expansion of markets for composting and compost facilities. USCC members include compost producers, marketers, and equipment manufacturers. The NRA partnered with USCC in 2012.