12 New Year's Resolutions for Your Sustainable Bar
Offering a moment to breathe after the busy Christmas season, January is a great time to put some fresh sustainability goals in place for your bar. Take inspiration from these New Year’s resolutions – one for each month of 2024!
January: Check your supply chain. Get 2024 off to a thoughtful start by taking a fresh look at your supply chain to ensure the businesses you support are environmentally-friendly and socially just. Look for brands that can showcase a dedication to sustainability (like Flor de Caña!).
February: Training and development. Providing direction and support for career progression is incredibly important for keeping employees motivated and engaged. This can significantly boost your attraction, recruitment and retention capabilities throughout 2024 and beyond.
March: Cut your waste. Minimising your bar’s waste can reduce environmental impact while also cutting costs. Implement processes to track waste, identify where your biggest sources lie and set targets for reduction.
April: Put provenance on the cocktail menu. Customers are interested in the stories behind their orders, and local sourcing is highly desirable. Set a target for sourcing a higher percentage of your ingredients from within your region or country, or make it your mission to use only fruit and veg from local producers.
May: Tackle Scope 3 emissions. If your business hasn’t started tracking and reducing your Scope 3 emissions, make 2024 the year you begin. Measure where you are now, set clear targets for reductions and make a plan for how to get there.
June: Transition to renewable energy. Making the move to clean sources of energy can make a huge difference to both carbon emissions and overall environmental impact.
Explore our free, practical toolkit for helping F&B businesses make the leap to renewable energy!
July: Switch to seasonal. Embrace a seasonal approach with a bar menu that changes every few months to make the most of local ingredients at their best.
August: Set maximum hours. Putting an upper limit on working hours is a good way to make a real difference in your team members’ day-to-day lives. Revise your rostering system to accommodate a fixed full-time week to improve work-life balance and physical and mental wellbeing.
September: Ditch the garnishes. This is a simple way for a bar to cut unnecessary waste (and reduce your order size). Where you do use garnishes, make sure they’re edible and/or compostable, use every part, and source locally where possible.
October: Boost community involvement. Actively strengthening your ties to your local community brings benefits to the area and to your business; consider getting involved with local events, groups or causes to put down deeper roots.
November: Water usage. By 2025, it’s predicted that up to two-thirds of the world’s population may face water shortages. Examining where and why your business might be wasting water and finding smart ways to minimise wastage is a resolution worth keeping.
December: Champion charity work. Build a relationship with a local charity and find out how you can give back. You could donate profits or food, offer your space free of charge for events they run or introduce staff volunteer days.
For more smart insights into minimising your bar’s environmental impact, follow Flor de Caña on social media.
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