by Ronna Sweeney, KUAM NewsMonday, April 14, 2008 Subscribe to Ronna's newsfeed
From menus printed on recycled paper to sourcing locally to cut down on fuel consumption, Ruby Tuesday is already making its mark as an environmentally conscious partner in the community. Green efforts appear to be nothing new for the popular restaurant, which opened locally only a few months ago. General manager Matt Bal says as the company as a whole has been making an eco-conscious push for awhile now, saying, "It's been a huge focus for about the past ten years in the corporation. They developed a whole branch in the corporation called the 'going Green Branch.' It has its own director and employees who focus on making Ruby Tuesday as green as possible."Bal says the Guam location is actually an advantage for going green. He says much of the food waste generated is sent to local pig farms to be used as feed and that sourcing items locally helps cut down on transportation costs. "Our crab, for instance - instead of it being flown from Indonesia all the way to the mainland and shipped back out here we're able to purchase it directly from Indonesia to cut down on the fuel usage," he explained.Food-wise, many of the items from the Ruby Tuesday salad bar are organic, like the spinach, baby greens and dressings. Bal says that they also have switched from using 120-watt bulbs to florescent lighting and that lights aren't even turned on until 15 minutes before opening. "Our menus are printed on recycled paper, but they go a lot further than that. Just for the printing of the menus we use a soy-based ink. The power needed to print the menus is from wind and so they do as much as they can to make it as eco-friendly as possible," he explained.Bal says if you visit the RubyTuesday.com, tips are available so you can learn how to lead a greener lifestyle.