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Delicious Dining While Reducing Food Waste and Conserving Resources: Bennington Restaurants Keep Food Scraps out of the Landfill

 May 24, 2018

BENNINGTON, Vt – Hungry to put a stop to unnecessary food waste, many restaurant owners in Bennington are quickly becoming statewide composting leaders. By separating kitchen scraps and plate scrapings from the trash, these restaurants are turning leftovers into compost, a rich soil amendment affectionately called “black gold” by gardeners and farmers. Now, when diners eat at restaurants like Pangaea and Kevin’s Sports Pub in Bennington, any food that’s left on the plate will get a second life as compost. By choosing to eat at these restaurants, diners are helping reduce Vermont’s waste while enjoying a delicious meal.

 “It’s straightforward and simple. As we’re prepping, we fill up the buckets and dump them in food scrap bins,” says Nick Disorda, owner of Pangaea. “It’s easier than taking out the trash because you don’t have to deal with bags, just a bucket with a handle. From a business standpoint, there’s not a good argument as to why we wouldn’t compost.”

When food is thrown away, it ends up in landfills, producing greenhouse gases like methane that contribute to climate change. Restaurants in Bennington are fighting back against climate change by making a series of simple but impactful changes in their day to day operations.

By 2020, all restaurants in Vermont will be required to compost food scraps as part of Vermont’s Universal Recycling Law. This law is designed to decrease trash and increase recycling and composting. One of the goals of the law is to reduce waste, but even after careful menu planning around customer favorites and ordering the correct amount of supplies, food scraps are an inevitable part of every restaurant meal – coffee grounds, carrot tops, grapefruit rinds, and chicken bones to name a few. By simply adding food scrap buckets to waste stations and prep areas, these restaurants are proving that food scraps don’t have to be thrown in a landfill. Bennington restaurants are doing their part to improve Vermont’s environment by sending leftover beef bones and cheese rinds to the local compost facility.

“We have been composting our food scraps for over 5 years. It’s not hard,” says Suzee Bushee, General Manager of Burger King in Bennington. “I think it’s wonderful. I’m a gardener. I compost at home, so I know it’s possible. It’s a mindset. With new staff, we train them right away. It’s just a matter of changing habits, that’s all. We’re keeping stuff out of the landfill. It’s good for the environment.”

Local restaurants currently known to be diverting food scraps include Allegro Ristorante, Bistro Henry, Blue Benn Diner, Bringing You Vermont, Brown Cow Café, Burger King, Chili’s, Fugi, Jensen’s, Kevin’s Sports Pub & Restaurant, Krijnen Bakery, Pangaea Restaurant, Publyk House, South Street Café, Subway, Sunny Side Diner, and Two Brews. These restaurants are paving the way for all Vermonters to comply with the law. By 2020, all food scraps are banned from the landfill whether generated in a restaurant, grocery store or at home.

For more information about composting and the Universal Recycling Law, visit vtrecycles.com.