The People, Profis, Planet - Best Practices Conference in Dallas TX on Nov 7th, 2012, was a fantastic experience!
(photos courtesy of PRBBI)
I was invited to speak at the annual conference attended by the leaders of the largest restaurant chains in the US, as well as the Nat'l Restaurant Assoc., and others.
I was invited to give a presention about my project, Be Straw Free.
I encourage restaurants to OFFER straws to customers instead of serving one with every drink autoamtically, and I encourage customers to order their drinks without a straw if they don't need to use one.
(There are paper straws and many reusable options -glass, bamboo, stainless steel, etc. for those who want or need to use a straw - many come with their own carrying case, too.)
Participating restaurants LOVE this project because, as they have reported back to me, they find that 50-80% of their customers choose not to take a straw when offered. And, anyone who wants a straw still gets one.
This simple step saves restaurnts money and keeps a lot of needless plastic waste out of landfills and our oceans. (We use enough straw here in the US to fill more than 46,400 large yellow school buses per year!)
Independently-owned restaurants around the world are already particiapting in this project, but this was the first time I've gotten a chance to pitch the idea to the largest restaurant chains in the US.
My presentation was received with a generous standing ovation and enthusiasm.
George McKerrow, CEO of Ted's Montana Grill, was the first to sign the pledge to adopt the offer-first policy in his chain of restaurants.
Suzy's Swirl signed on next.
Representatives of several other chains pledged to take the proposal to their borads for approval.
This is one small step for each restaurant, one giant leap for the planet!
Thanks to all who gave me such a warm welcome in Dallas! I appreciate your time and interest in my project. And thank you to PRBBI for igiving me the opportunity me to give my presentation to this audience.
