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VIDEO: Earth Day with CRG Restaurant Group

Updated: 
April 21, 2024
Article

The Week in Sustainability – April 22 – Earth Day

Planet earth shot

Happy Earth Day! To celebrate, we sat down with a special guest, and sustainability took center stage, echoing the growing urgency to address environmental challenges, specifically in the restaurant industry.

During this episode, we heard from Ali Cammisa, senior director of sustainability and social impact at CRG Restaurant Group, which comprises various brands and embraced sustainability as a core pillar of its operations. Throughout this conversation, we discussed how businesses can integrate sustainable practices into their operations while effectively communicating their impact.

Historically, Earth Day has evolved beyond a mere annual event, becoming a compelling platform for organizations to share their environmental initiatives and engage with their communities. For Ali, storytelling lies at the heart of this movement. She emphasizes the importance of weaving data and insights into narratives to convey the tangible impact of sustainability efforts.

We reflected on CRG’s journey of leveraging platforms and resources to gather data and comprehensively understand its environmental footprint. One of CRG’s standout initiatives has been implementing composting programs across its locations, diverting 50% of its waste away from landfills. Through this initiative, CRG has removed 1.5 million pounds of waste across its 18 locations. By tracking metrics and visualizing the impact of waste diversion, CRG has not only reduced its environmental footprint but engaged its team members and local communities in the process.

However, Ali acknowledged that effectively communicating sustainability initiatives can be challenging, as it requires ensuring they resonate with both customers and executives. She emphasizes the need to keep the conversation playful and accessible, simplifying complex concepts to effectively engage a broader audience. Through this approach, CRG has established a unique brand identity that allows for individualized sustainability journeys while contributing to the collective goal of environmental stewardship.

To celebrate Earth Day, CRG is gearing up for several initiatives across its brands, from tree-planting events to sharing impact reports and community engagement activities.  Starting this journey can be overwhelming, and organizations need to start small, understand baseline metrics, and foster a culture of sustainability within the organization. Looking ahead, CRG remains committed to continuous improvement, with plans to conduct a supply chain audit and further refine its sustainable practices.

To follow CRG's journey:

@ciccior
@eatatcali

@we.love.camp

@eatfreshkitchen

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At Sustain.Life, our goal is to provide the most up-to-date, objective, and research-based information to help readers make informed decisions. Written by practitioners and experts, articles are grounded in research and experience-based practices. All information has been fact-checked and reviewed by our team of sustainability professionals to ensure content is accurate and aligns with current industry standards. Articles contain trusted third-party sources that are either directly linked to the text or listed at the bottom to take readers directly to the source.
Author
Bobby Hite
Bobby Hite is a senior sales executive at Sustain.Life with almost a decade specializing in engineering unique and organic personal brands for leaders in sustainability.
Reviewer
Alyssa Rade
Alyssa Rade is the chief sustainability officer at Sustain.Life. She has over ten years of corporate sustainability experience and guides Sustain.Life’s platform features.
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