I saw an interesting article in the Buckhead Reporter this week about the new Zero Waste Zone in Buckhead.  You can only imagine the amount of waste that area restaurants produce on a daily basis.  I have worked in several restaurants and they all work differently, but in every case there is a great deal of waste.  Many of the kitchens I worked in did a really good job of using and reusing as much of the produce as possible.  It’s the little things that make or break a profit.  Anyway, participating restaurants will collect used grease for biofuel production,  send uneaten food to the hungry, (or compost as needed) and recycle paper and plastics.  It’s hard to imagine that this hasn’t been going on for ever but for one Atlanta restaurant that was quoted in the paper, they are proud to be the area’s first “dumpster-free” restaurant.  All of the waste at Ecco is picked up by a recycling or composting company.  That is awesome! 

You can find more information about the Zero Waste Zone on the Green Foodservice Alliance’s website http://www.greenfoodservicealliance.org/index.html.