Ocean Pledge Restaurant Programme
Our Approach
Our approach for this Restaurant Programme is based on supporting a Zero Waste to Land-Fill system. This means creating a shift away from today’s throw away culture where not a second’s thought is given to the items we throw away after a few minute’s use resulting in overflowing landfills and oceans full of trash.
We are not pretending to know all the answers. Neither can we say that plastic will disappear in a hurry as it certainly has its place. What we can work towards is more a circular economy whereby we say NO to as much new or ‘virgin’ plastic as possible, while keeping the plastic we do have in the ‘loop’ for as long as possible.
Implementing the criteria is YOUR commitment towards ensuring the health of our oceans and leads the way to new paradigms.
The Ocean Pledge Restaurant Programme
South Africa has been ranked as the 11th largest contributor to marine plastics, with 95% of that coming from land-based sources. Research shows that 94% of all trash on South Africa’s beaches is plastic, of which 77% is packaging.
The goals of our programme are to:
- Reduce plastic waste within the food and beverage sector by encouraging the elimination of various forms of disposable, non-recyclable, non-reusable plastics such as expanded polystyrene (EPS), plastic-lined cups, clamshells, cutlery, etc.
- Promote an ever-growing network of restaurants that are committed to moving away from plastic, creating an environment for the sharing of best practice and guidelines
- Encourage shifts in consumer behaviour through education, communication and campaigns
- Monitoring and tracking changes through the aggregation of data along the journey
Ocean Pledge Programme Criteria
To become part of our programme, participating restaurants must adhere to the following criteria
NO PLASTIC OR PLA STRAWS
All take-away/disposable utensils including cutlery, stirrers and scoops are made from wood/bamboo
NO EXPANDED POLYSTYRENE (AKA STYROFOAM
NO PLASTIC BAGS OFFERED FOR TAKE-OUT ORDERS
NO SWEETS WITH INDIVIDUAL WRAPPERS
A “REFUSE THE LID CAMPAIGN” IS IMPLEMENTED
REUSABLE/BRING YOUR OWN MUGS, BOTTLES, CONTAINERS, ETC. IS COMMUNICATED AND/OR INCENTIVISED.
*Our programme and criteria are inspired and based on the SurfRider Foundation Ocean Friendly programme. It has been adapted to meet South African research, our current available market solutions with advice and input from local businesses and WWF.
The Ocean Pledge Journey
We understand that going plastic-free is a journey.
Once the baseline criteria are met, we invite you to join us in an on-going process of improvement that is tailor-made for your restaurant needs and that keeps up with new research, as the market changes and alternatives become available
Businesses can then journey toward further criteria in their quest to improve:
- No beverages sold in plastic bottles.
- All condiments provided in glass, paper or reusable containers.
- Food waste is separated and either distributed through food sharing programmes or composted.
- Recycling system is in place for glass, plastic, paper, tin etc.
- Any seafood is SASSI green listed.
- Earth friendly cleaning products are used
Improvement on further critria will be acknowledged and communicated on our various platforms.
Membership Benefits
- Early adoption of best-practice behaviours appeal to the values of a growing generation of environmentally conscious consumers
- Listing on Ocean Pledge website and interactive map showing restaurant name / location
- Promotion to our online partnership networks with exposure to ongoing campaigns and social media platforms such as Wavescape
- Use of Ocean Pledge Restaurant Programme logos for menu, website and other marketing media (please note T&C’s)
- Ongoing consultation around best practice including cost-saving benefits
- Access to a growing database of alternative resources and service providers
- Implementing criteria addresses national / global development goals that are critical for a sustainable economy
How to sign up
- Rate your restaurant to see if you meet the criteria to become part of our community.
- If you do not meet the criteria, you are ready for action and we will be in contact, in the meantime you can view this guideline document.
- If you fulfil the criteria you can continue to register online.
- Once you’ve sign and paid for your membership we will be in touch to ask you some details about consumables relevant to the programme and your preferences for marketing materials.
- This information will enable us to measure and increase the impact of our programme.
Ocean Pledge Restaurant Programme Annual Membership Fees
The membership fee structure is R1000 annually per restaurant and R500 per vendor. Discounts are provided for multiple restaurant sign-ups. Annual membership fees, which are subject to change, enable the sustainability and continued growth of the programme.
What you get after Sign Up
- A choice of Ocean Pledge Restaurant Programme decals for your venue/vendor vehicle.
- Access to:
- communication posters for ‘refuse the lid’ and ‘bring your own’ campaigns
- educational and staff training materials
- a restaurant community through which to share best practice
- our resource base for alternative products/ suppliers
- Ocean Pledge Restaurant Programme digital logo/website badges for your website and social media platforms (see T&C’s)
- Announcement on our social media and partner platforms.
- Listing on the interactive map on our website.
The Ocean Pledge Restaurant Community
The Ocean Pledge Restaurant PROGRAMME and THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS
Our Restaurant and other Programmes seek to support the implementation of the United Nation’s global sustainable development agenda. Through its various activities, our Programmes helps to achieve:
- SDG 4 – to provide access to quality education.
- SDG 12 – to promote responsible consumption and production, including sustainable waste management.
- SDG 14 – to protect the ocean and pursue a healthy ‘below water’ environment.
The Restaurant Programme also supports the City of Cape Town’s strategic objective to ‘reduce waste to landfill’, as included in the Integrated Development Plan (2017-2022).
