The Surfrider Foundation’s San Diego County chapter has launched the Ocean Friendly Restaurants campaign, which aims to reduce beach pollution by working with the San Diego County restaurant community to voluntarily reduce the use of plastic food service items, including Styrofoam containers, plastic bags and disposable cups and utensils.
“Disposable plastic food-service items made up nearly half of all garbage picked up by Surfrider and Coastkeeper in 2014 during organized beach clean-up efforts,” said Jason Rubin, co-chair of Surfrider’s Rise Above Plastics Committee. “This means that restaurants can have a tremendous impact on our ocean and beaches by adopting ocean-friendly practices.”
The inaugural restaurants in the campaign are Lazy Hummingbird Cafe, Raglan Public House and Wonderland Ocean Pub in Ocean Beach; Bareback Grill and Bayside Landing in Pacific Beach; the Burger Lounge chain; Queenstown Public House in Little Italy; and Snooze A.M. Eatery in Del Mar and Hillcrest.
“This is an important project that will have wide-ranging benefits for our beaches and bays,” said San Diego City Council President Sherri Lightner.
Hoffman Leung, co-owner of Wonderland Ocean Pub, said, “Polystyrene foam has been the go-to material for take-out containers for decades, mainly for its low cost and effective heat insulation. But it’s also created a problem for our environment, not to mention our city as a whole.”
The campaign rewards restaurants that agree to voluntary practices that decrease beach and ocean pollution. Restaurants that adopt ocean-friendly requirements are eligible for significant marketing and promotional support from Surfrider.
“This is an inclusive campaign with broad-based support that spans the business community, elected officials from both sides of the political aisle and the greater restaurant industry,” said Mark West, Surfrider’s San Diego County chair. “That’s because ocean and beach pollution affects everyone.”
An Ocean Friendly Restaurant meets the following three requirements: No polystyrene foam (Styrofoam) is used; only reusable tableware is used onsite; and proper recycling practices are followed.
An Ocean Friendly Restaurant must also meet at least three of the following six criteria: Plastic straws are provided only upon request; takeout food and beverage containers are recycled, recyclable, compostable or biodegradable; take-out bags are not made of plastic; take-out bags are provided only upon request or pickup customers are asked to provide their own take-out bags; disposable utensils are provided only upon request; and no beverages are sold in plastic bottles.
For more information on the campaign, go to surfriderSD.org.