Subway: Trying To Make A Difference

On the blogging site The Practical Environmentalist there was a great blog post about Subway restaurants and their attempts to help make their stores more environmentally friendly. The post was labeled Subway Sandwich Franchise Makes Efforts To Reduce Environmental Impact and discussed the different ways that Subway is attempting to reduce the amount of paper and oil they waste. The first method they are using is making three garbage bins in which people can throw their garbage away. The first bin would be for the actual food and garbage, the second bin will be for any paper products that will be recycled, and the third will be for any plastic products that will also be recycled. They also built a store which they are specifically calling their "eco-store" in which they will be trying out all the new methods for being eco friendly. The store was constructed using some recycled materials, it uses a more efficient air conditioning and heating system, a plumbing system that conserves water and high efficiency lighting. Also Subway plans on using napkins made out of recycled materials and cups and plastic cutlery made out of polypropylene which will be saving oil. Lastly, the store is opening a facility in Utah that slices the deli meat and distributes it, instead of having it sliced in Iowa and distributed from Colorado.

I think that it is great seeing a store that is trying to take the first step in helping the reduce the amount of pollution in our earth and helping to save some trees. The people who run Subway are extremely smart, and I believe that having "eco-stores" will be a great advertising technique for them, since when customers go to their store they will feel as though they are helping to save the Earth. Now, if only other chain restaurants could begin to follow Subway's lead this would be one step in the right direction towards saving the planet we live in.