CLOsEd LOOpS
The world is waking up to the little changes that we can make in our everyday lives to ensure a happier planet, a healthier planet, a planet that we can pass on to our grandchildren. Banning single-use plastics, selling ‘wonky’ vegetables, questioning the very foundations of modern consumerism; everybody, individual to big business, is having a serious think about how they can do more, and WE MUST!
“EiThEr YoU DeFeNd ThE StATuS QUo, oR YoU iNvEnT ThE FutUrE”
Seth Gobin
Absolutely not, closed loop is more than a business practice it’s a way of life, a mentality. Posed with the choice of two products the same quality but one is better for our world, morally do we have a choice? Cutting down energy usage, removing plastic straws, minimizing carbon mileage, and adding more vegan/vegetarian options have all been viable tools for these businesses alongside cutting down on food waste- this last one is a big one for the hospitality trade.
That wasteful linear world where we make what we need and dispose of it is not viable anymore. In a nutshell, closed-loop means that once something is created, it will be recycled and turned into something new- a full circle without a negative impact. This can be a way of giving new life to aluminum or plastic but is just as handy for helping your kitchen and operations cut down on food wastage.
It’s estimated by the UN that one-third of all food ends up as waste before even hitting the table which feels a bit like doing your food shopping and throwing a third of it straight into the bin. This food waste is also contributing around 10% of the Global Greenhouse Emission; as far as climate change goes, this is as Urgent as it gets!
Closing the loop is one way to ensure that your lifestyle is contributing as little to that gargantuan weight of waste as possible, bringing down those greenhouse emissions and generally just getting to feel pretty good about yourself. But where to start?
Well, the truth is, hospitality doesn’t have to be environmentally unfriendly and there have been plenty of sustainable yet successful eateries in recent years to prove it. Even looking back throughout our hospitality history there are thousands of techniques use to close our waste loops in hospitality. Only globalization and the focus on more is more have brought to operating in linear economies.
But what of the tasty bastions of hospitality that, historically, have not been the most ecologically sound of propositions?
So, what is
CLOsEd LOOp
Nose to tail, Head to hoof, Root to leaf, Drop to Dram, there are more marketing terms for this than there is sense. So let us explain 808’s stance on CLOSED LOOP. We look at it from a systems approach where an attempt in closing loops is akin to a recycling economy or a full closed loop is akin to a circular economy. For more details and discipline examples visit Linear vs Circular.
So you might be wondering why we are looking at it this way, so let’s hold court for a second. It might not always be possible in trade or at home to operate in a completely closed loop way, arguably it might be impossible in modern society. But does that mean we don’t try? Do we accept the status quo?
MiX thE OlD WiTh ThE nEw
