The food at the EMU’s Holy Cow Café is fresh, organic and flavored with a healthy spoonful of smiles. But for restaurant co-owner Kathee Lavine, there had always been something about the business that left a bitter taste in her mouth. Ever since she first began peddling pad thai and chow mein back in 1997, Lavine has been stewing about the trash.
“Waste has always been a little grain of sand in our oyster,” Lavine said.
So following on the heels of an EMU waste audit that revealed paper plates and plastic utensils make up 13 percent of EMU Food Services waste, Lavine has cooked up a plan to take a bite out of trash. Lavine said Holy Cow patrons now have the option of using reusable plates and silverware with a $5 deposit.
“We’ve been trying to do this for a year, but it has taken us a while to get our ducks lined up,” Lavine said.
The plates, which were purchased for last year’s Willamette Valley Folk Festival from an ASUO grant, are being rented to the cafe. By providing reusable plates, Holy Cow will incur extra labor expenses and a $155 per month charge to lease a dishwasher. Despite the increased cost, Lavine said she thinks waste reduction is worth it.
“We believe one’s food choices are a powerful political statement,” Lavine said. “We want to decrease our footprint on the planet and reuse things rather than throw them away.”
Doctoral student Jackie Schwandt said recycling is an important part of her lifestyle and added that she was drawn to the café because of the new reusable plates.
“I want to contribute toward stopping the amount of garbage that is thrown away,” Scwandt said. “I had never eaten at Holy Cow before this week, but then I saw the Plate Club.”
The recent EMU Food Services waste audit also found that compostable materials make up roughly 40 percent of the volume of trash. In addition to reusable plates, Lavine said Holy Cow also composts nearly all of its food waste.
“Right now, the compostable materials are going to the night manager’s garden,” Lavine said. “We’re trying to undo people’s thoughts that things like plates are free, and that there is no cost to the planet.”
If the reusable plate program is successful, Holy Cow may try reusable bowls, Lavine added.
Holy Cow employee and singer/songwriter Luna Lacey said most of her customers don’t want to use paper plates.
“People are really excited about it,” Lacey said. “It’s so much more cozy and comfortable than the fast food disposable world we live in.”