The Botanist, an organic, plant-based restaurant, is now New York’s only carbon-neutral restaurant. It is the result of a partnership since 2016 with the environmental consulting agency CO2logic. They have helped Le Botaniste to minimize energy consumption and offset greenhouse gas emissions, as well as being kind to the planet in the food they serve.
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Becoming certified carbon neutral requires a lot of research. CO2logic first calculated the greenhouse gas emissions generated not only by the restaurant but by each recipe. The organization used data from a French environmental organization to determine the carbon footprint of each of Le Botaniste’s organic vegetables, grains and other ingredients they use in their dishes.
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Next, they calculated the electricity consumption and carbon footprint of paper products and other supplies used in restaurants to provide a holistic view of the environmental impact of the entire supply chain. This means local and global impact, from sustainable farming for their food supply to the compostable containers they use to take out.

You can even see carbon calculations posted online. They are updated every year. They also compensated by funding a climate project in Ghana for the distribution of efficient Gold Standard certified cookstoves.

This is a very detailed view of the idea of becoming a carbon neutral company. Other companies that don’t want to go through the certification process could still take some ideas from this process and apply them more generally. For example, any business can try to source as much electricity as possible from clean energy sources through the utility company, install solar panels, or rent a building that is as energy efficient as possible. environmental. Plus, choose suppliers who help them use recycled paper products, reduce waste, or fund environmental programs to offset the carbon used like tree planting programs.

Le Botaniste has taken eco-responsibility to the next level. It will be interesting to see how this level of detail raises new questions about a company’s ability to reduce its carbon footprint.

Soon, every business, from restaurants to tech companies, will have the resources to make it an overall positive business. One that is greener and healthier for all.
+ The Botanist
Images via The Botanist