CAN YOU BE GREEN WITHOUT DRINKING THE KOOLAID?

Is J-BAR-H Green? In a word, yes. In two words, not really. I mean we do some really green things, but I just can't wear the robes and drink the kool-aid. Being a caterer we are being asked more and more by our corporate catering clients, churches, picnic clients and even our BBQ clients to have "green" options and recycling onsite.

We do some things that NOBODY else is doing, especially in our respective genres. J-BAR-H grows our own herbs and composts all of the green waste from our kitchen; then uses the compost to feed the herbs. We use compostable paper goods and recyclable disposables on our jobs where reusable items are not practical. We can schedule rental of china, crystal and silverware to reduce waste. As a third option we can offer disposables made from green sources such as cornstarch and other earth-friendly substances. We also offer alternatives to the venerable "box-lunch" when circumstances don't require individual packaging. We use the boxes our goods come to us in to send our products out to our clients. We practice "reduce, reuse and recycle" wherever possible and look for ways to save energy where practical. We serve dishes "family style" unless requested otherwise. We buy local and Texas produced goods as a matter of principle when possible. When available and practical, we donate extra food to local area charities and food pantries. The fact is that we subscribe to the tenets of running a green business in a practical manner, just not a religious one. If GREEN is your thing, we can work with you or your event planner to help meet your goals in a reasonable manner.

So, coming out of a great conference in Las Vegas we have dedicated ourselves to the following initiatives: 1) We will use reused and reusable materials in our delivery system wherever possible. 2) We will offer recycling receptacles at all of our events 3) We will source earth friendly products for all of our disposables that fit not only our mission but actually SAVE our clients and our company money. 4) We will go to a front-to-back online ordering system that will make 90% of our paperwork dissappear immediately, saving paper and fuel consumption in the process. 5) We will seek to reduce our packaging and work with our customers on reducing their reliance on us to bring disposable servingware.

Does this make us "green"? I don't know, but it seems that if we can tighten up our processes and reduce our waste that it would at least make us more responsible than others who don't even try. I think in the end that it is about just doing right things right. This seems right.