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Recently, I was eating a wonderful meal in Longview, Texas, at one of my favorite deli’s, Jason’s deli. The stores are always exceptionally clean, the food selection is outstanding, the freshness is top notch, and the salad bar is the *best* in my opinion. Everything at this deli is free of artificial trans fats and is free of MSG. The flavor of EVERYTHING is simply outstanding and their prices are ridiculously low for the value you receive.
While I was enjoying the salad bar with a bowl of tomato basil soup, my eye was drawn to a table top card entitled “Care To Conserve.” Jason’s deli has enacted several measures and initiatives in an attempt to reduce their energy consumption and, according to the company, “incorporating even the smallest sustainable measures helps the world we share. It’s a journey and this is where we are, so far:”
What does all this mean to for their business? Admittedly, “green” marketing efforts can produce profits in the black, but when a company takes the time to thoroughly think through its processes, from construction to daily operations, it can find ways to reduce expenses AND help keep our environment clean.
Replacing corporate travel with conference calls and webinars saves tens of thousands of dollars. One flight can cost over $1,500 and when you add the hotel and rental car costs and you run into some serious money. Plates, forks, and napkins also have a cost. It isn’t very much on a per unit basis, but why just give them away when the vast majority are never used and end up in the trash? Using solar energy to power the faucets, and even the entire deli is a great idea. I know from experience that a store of that size probably has a $4,000 to $7,000 utility bill. Reducing it to zero, even if it costs $500,000 will generate long term returns. Motion sensing restroom lighting makes sure that energy is used only when it’s needed. That has a huge cost savings. All of these ideas and initiatives are entirely compatible with the goals of business AND environmentalists.
If businesses like Jason’s deli (and even Starbucks) can stop looking at environmentalists as “on the fringe” and environmentalists can stop looking at business people as “robber barons of resources,” if business can start looking at environmental goals as achievable while still making a healthy profit and environmentalists can admit that capitalism will help them reach their goals….we might be able to make some progress on both fronts.
Technorati Tags: green, environmentalism, environment, environmental, business, conserve, organic, lighting, deli
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I usually eat there 3 or 4 times when I travel to Texas. They really have great food on top of everything else. I simply LOVE their tomato basil soup with their salad bar.
There’s one in Riverside, a bunch in Arizona, and one in Albuquerque. Stop in if you get the chance. I personally love the place. Wish there was one closer to MY home too!
It’s good to see they are doing to much to conserve resources and save money. In the long run, I think it will really pay off for them.
Done
Hey, thanks Elliott! I’ve always liked their food, but when I saw their environmental initiatives and started thinking about how they impact the profit line, I was impressed. I love the idea of using solar power for the entire restaurant. Not every business can do this (it helps to be located in Texas) but if most gave it a shot, they could at least reduce their electricity bill. “A penny saved is a penny earned.”
Is that a book?
Up here in Newburyport, Massachusetts, about 5 miles south of the New Hampshire border, I point you to The Tannery, a collection of about 50 restaurants, shops, and offices that are housed in renovated millworks buildings which are topped with nearly 400 solar panels. The PV panels offset about 20 percent of the Tannery’s electric bill.
Another company, Mark Richey Woodworking recently received the city’s first permit to erect a wind turbine. More applications are pending.
Massachusetts may be no Texas in terms of statewide Kyotoesque protocols but there are hundreds of businesses that either design, manufacture, supply, or end-use solar panels, wind turbines, geothermal tanks, wood pellet burning stoves, and the like.
That is really great. I think that as more and more advances are made in energy efficiencies, you’ll see greater numbers of businesses getting on board with “green” initiatives. I was watching “Dirty Jobs” with Mike Rowe on the Discovery channel last night as he was cleaning some windmills at a wind farm in Oklahoma and thought, “I would love to have just ONE of those in my yard, supplementing my electricity use…just maybe not one that large.
They ARE MASSIVE!
I subscribe to a Comcast cable package, but this new channel is the next level up which unfortunately is not the value of green I feel like spending right now.