Fast food restaurants have begun keeping track of their impact on the planet as a way of reaching out to environmentally-conscious customers.
It’s part of environmental profit and loss (EP&L), a way of estimating the environmental impacts of doing business.
Lawmakers in California are taking interest in environmental profit and loss, too. A piece of legislation called the Climate Corporation Accountability Act (SB 260) was introduced in the State Senate last month. It would require corporations doing business in California that make more than $1 billion in gross annual revenue to disclose greenhouse gas emissions and set targets to reduce them.
According to the office of Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), the bill, if passed, would apply to large restaurant chains but have little to no impact on small, local businesses.
Chipotle Mexican Grill has already begun to make some that environmental impact data available to consumers on its app, said Caitlin Leibert, director of sustainability for the Newport Beach company.
The feature is called Real Foodprint.
It adds up the ingredients in a customer’s order and shows positive impacts on the environment such as how many grams of carbon are not going into the atmosphere, how many gallons of water are being saved, how many milligrams of antibiotics are being avoided, or how many square feet are being used in organic farming.
Once customers have made their orders, they can go to the personal section of their app to see the numbers.
Chipotle got celebrity scientist Bill Nye to explain it in YouTube and TikTok videos.
“It’s not comparing our ingredients against one another. Rather, it’s comparing our ingredients against the industry average,” said Leibert.
She said Chipotle wanted to go beyond sharing its carbon footprint because it shows consumers it’s serious about the environment.
“It’s a commitment from us to continue to source better,” she said. “It’s not just on the consumer to make the right choice.”
Chipotle touts its use of “real” ingredients with no artificial flavors, colors or preservatives. Panera Bread, which touts its “clean” foods, also has an environmental campaign.
In October, Panera began a “Cool Food Meal” label for menu items with “a lower carbon footprint.”
They are identified by the World Resources Institute, a global research organization devoted to managing natural resources, as having a low impact on the climate.
They include the Chipotle Chicken Avocado Melt, Fuji Apple Chicken Salad and Broccoli Cheddar Soup.
“With approximately 25% of greenhouse gases created from food production—what you choose to eat can help make a real difference,” Panera said in a news release.
McDonald’s has opened a “net zero energy” restaurant at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida.
Features include a frame with louvers around the building to let out hot air; plant-covered walls; a v-shaped roof with solar panels; and transparent solar panels that can generate electricity throughout the building, according to a news release.
McDonald’s said it hopes to gather data from the restaurant to help it reach its goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 36% by the year 2030.
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