900 Degrees Neapolitan Pizzeria, located in Manchester and Epping, prides itself on its sustainable business practices. The seven-year-old business used reclaimed, efficient décor and the food is made with organic ingredients whenever possible. But the company recently decided to take its eco-friendly practices a step further. The restaurants now use green certified cleaning products.
A Green Alliance member, 900 Degrees Owner Priscilla Lane-Rondue says sustainable living has always been close to her heart. “For me, going green is always my first choice,” said Lane-Rondeau. “I truly believe in it.”
Following that belief she switched the restaurants to green certified cleaning supplies to keep harsh chemicals found in most commercial-grade cleaning products off the table tops, out of the kitchen and out of their waste stream. “We’re all really excited to be doing the right thing,” says 900 Degrees Employee Pat Holland. Besides eliminating chemical cleaners, the company also uses cloth rags laundered offsite to wipe up spills and messes, keeping paper towels and other waste out of landfills. The only paper towels in the restaurant are those in the bathrooms.
Being green is something that was instilled in Lane-Rondeau in her youth. She attributes this to her parents, who lived through the Depression and always reused materials and grew their own food. "They were very frugal; nothing went to waste. Living that way just becomes ingrained in you," said Lane-Rondeau. "We had a small gentleman’s farm with high quality, sustainable food. We never used chemicals or sprays."
In an effort to make 900 Degrees ever greener, the staff at the Epping restaurant has established what they call The Green Team. Once a month, representatives from each department of the restaurant meet to discuss ways 900 Degrees can move closer to attaining their goal of being 100 percent green. Amd, while making the switch, quality and price were important factors in finding the right green cleaning product. The Green Team did their research and found the Reliance brand to be the best fit. Now, 900 Degrees uses Reliance for their pot and pan soak, glass cleaner, multi-surface cleanser, degreaser and floor cleaner and the staff says it's thrilled with the results. According to Holland, the price difference is negligible and the quality of the green products is just as high as that of their previous, chemical riddled cleaning supplies.
Not only did The Green Team envision and enact the use of all natural, green certified cleaning supplies, the group has also developed several other ways to produce as little waste in the restaurant as possible. One such change includes the elimination wasteful disposable plastic portion bags from their food preparation. This change will keep hundreds of plastic bags out of the trash. Despite having accomplished so much, the staff still believes there are more avenues they can take toward reaching their goal of being 100 percent green.
“We will continue to make changes,” says Holland, “When the day comes that we have no waste, we’ll be done.”
900 Degrees is a member of the Green Alliance, a local Portsmouth business working to unite green businesses and like-minded consumers. Linking her restaurant with other green-minded businesses and educating people about the benefits of going green is the most rewarding feat Lane-Rondeau has accomplished at 900 Degrees.
"I am proud of being able to provide quality food and also being able to use my influence to educate people about living sustainably. When we opened 900 Degrees, I said I wanted to be consciously responsible about what we were doing and about being green," says Lane-Rondeau, "Whatever you do, do it well."
To learn more about 900 Degrees, visit www.900degrees.com
Learn more about the Green Alliance at www.greenalliance.biz
Current Issue - April 2024