In today’s fast-paced world, restaurants — and delivery via convenient smartphone applications — offer convenient alternatives to cooking at home. They also generate a lot of waste.
Restaurants must meet demand and generate profit to succeed, but sustainability increasingly factors into the equation. For many establishments, sustainable practices represent an extra, unnecessary cost. However, as consumer demand for environmentally conscious brands rises, eateries are increasingly seeking solutions that are both economically feasible and environmentally beneficial.
Our research group aims to find those solutions scientifically. We will use methods of Life Cycle Assessment — a technique that that assesses all stages of a product’s life, from raw materials to disposal or recycling — to evaluate various aspects of restaurant operations in order to pinpoint areas of greatest environmental impact and potential for improvement. Our end goal is to find solutions that save money, jumpstarting a large-scale change across the industry.
Team: Timothy Li, Kyle Crowley, Justin Eichenberger, Meera McAdam, Gabriel Hernandez, Miles Kim Parr
Advisor: Deepak Rajagopal
Client: Bludso’s Bar & Que Restaurant and the broader LA-based J Howard Restaurant Group