Shari Lewis | DISPATCH PHOTOS
Betty's Family of Restaurants is led by, from left, Elizabeth Lessner, president; Amy Brennick, COO; Tim Lessner, co-owner of Tip Top; Carmen Owens, co-owner of Surly Girl; and, at far right, Harold LaRue, general manager of Dirty Frank's. Second from right is Michael Minnix of Eartha Limited.
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Betty's Family of Restaurants uses to-go containers made of recycled materials.
Trash bins full of table scraps, cardboard, cans and bottles have always been a byproduct of the restaurant business. It doesn't have to be, says Elizabeth Lessner, president of Betty's Family of Restaurants.
By the end of this year, she hopes her business - which runs Betty's Fine Food & Spirits, the Surly Girl Saloon, Tip Top Kitchen & Cocktails and Dirty Frank's Hot Dogs - will become central Ohio's first zero-waste restaurant group.
Lessner and her employees are attempting to significantly reduce the amount of waste they produce, then find a way to recycle, reuse or compost everything that is left. The goal is to prove that green, eco-friendly initiatives and waste-reduction programs are possible and economical.
They're off to a decent start.
All four restaurants recycle all the cardboard, glass and aluminum cans that come through the door. They serve a lot of draft beer, to reduce the number of empty beer bottles, and canned beer because aluminum is easy to recycle. All to-go orders and leftovers are packaged in recycled paper or corn-plastic containers.
The Surly Girl Saloon and Betty's use energy-efficient lighting, and the Tip Top and Dirty Frank's will soon follow. Restaurants use five times as much energy per square foot as other commercial buildings, and energy accounts for 30 percent of their annual operating costs, according to the National Restaurant Association. Replacing one incandescent bulb with a compact fluorescent can save a restaurant $30 over the life of the bulb.
The table-scrap goal is a bit more difficult. The discards can't be composted on site because the process can be a messy, smelly and rat-drawing affair. Instead, they're hoping to ship it to the Solid Waste Authority of Central Ohio, which coordinates the composting of Columbus yard waste.
Discarded glass might go to local artists, recycling centers or manufacturers such as Weisenbach Recycled Products. (A video of Weisenbach recycling the bottles from the Tip Top and Betty's can be viewed on their Web site, www.recycledproducts.com.)
Consultant Michael Minnix, president of Eartha Limited, is going to help the Betty's group conduct a waste audit and refine their recycling efforts. Eartha Limited is a Columbus-based environmental consulting company that can help businesses navigate waste contracts and find grants and tax incentives to help in their environmental efforts.
Minnix says restaurants can go green without spending a lot of green.
Reducing waste can be as simple as switching from paper towels to electric hand-dryers in the ladies' room, Minnix said, and recycling can be as easy as putting a trash bin for glass or cans behind the bar. "Most of these programs don't cost a thing," he said. "And the money they save can offset the cost of bigger changes like more-efficient lighting or kitchen equipment. It can be a cost-neutral process."
It isn't yet clear how much the recycling and composting will cost - or save - Betty's in dollars and cents, but "we think it will be a cost-saver in the long run," Lessner said. "The immediate goal is to make all of this as cost-effective as possible."
Converting to energy-efficient lighting is already paying off, with the Surly Girl Saloon and Betty's on track to save a combined $8,100 a year in electricity costs. The Surly Girl Saloon replaced 136 bulbs with more-efficient models, at a cost of about $3,000. After energy incentives and rebates, the total cost was $1,626.
Greener products are becoming more affordable, which is helping Lessner's efforts.
Recycled to-go containers now are cheaper than foam boxes, Lessner said, because Ohio State University started using the recycled variety.
Recycling and energy-reduction strategies can sometimes pay off in customer count as well. "Some people care and some people don't. But this will make the people who do care about the environment more loyal," Lessner said.
"The core value of the company is that we want to leave our communities better than we found them. It sounds hokey, but it's true."
Superior Products Restaurant Equipment and Supplies has been in business for over 75 years, and started primarily as a beer parts distributor in the early 1930's following the Prohibition. Although we have expanded our foodservice equipment and supplies business, we have continued to sell beer parts for both business and home use.
We also have conversion kits which allow you to turn a small unused refrigerator into a source for your draft beer at home. Draft boxes with coils or cold plates are available to serve draft beer conveniently at a picnic or party without having to use a manual pump. 
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