In an area known for beautiful beaches and abundant sea life, several local eateries are taking aim at an ever-growing issue in their own backyard by becoming certified as “Ocean Friendly.”
So far, five restaurants have received the distinction, including Islands Fish Grill in Indialantic, the Tiny Turtle in Cocoa Beach, BeachFly Brewing Company in Indian Harbour Beach, the Nomad Café in Melbourne and Mustard’s Last Stand with two locations in Melbourne.
Certification requires that each owner uphold five standards. They include: no expanded polystyrene foam (Styrofoam) is used; only reusable tableware is used for onsite dining and takeaway utensils are only provided upon request; proper recycling practices are followed; no plastic bags offered for to-go orders; and straws are provided only upon request.
There are also several optional standards, two of which must be selected in addition to the five required for a restaurant to qualify as “ocean friendly.” Those options include: no beverages in plastic bottles; discounts for customers bringing reusable cups, bags, etc.; vegetarian or vegan food options; offering sustainable seafoods; using low-flow faucets and toilets; and utilizing energy-efficient LED lighting and energy.
The Ocean Friendly Restaurants Program (OFR) was created by the Surfrider Foundation, a national organization that promotes coastal preservation and ocean protection with a strong emphasis on decreasing plastic pollution. As the program director of the Sebastian Inlet Chapter, Shannon Shneyder is dedicated to bringing more local restaurants on board.
“It actually wasn’t hard to get any of the ones we have now because most of them were already following most of the criteria,” Shneyder said. “Some of them had to make small changes but these owners were already very environmentally conscious, so it was an easy sell.”
She works with restaurants to find resources for products, so they can make cost-effective changes.
Zach Featherstone, the owner of BeachFly Brewing, said he uses metal straws instead of plastic – and most customers appreciate it.
Mike Pavlick, who owns Mustard’s Last Stand, said they can go through 100,000 forks in one year. At both establishments, they now use wood forks. Originally from San Francisco, Pavlick said he was disgusted with the amount of trash being dumped in nature.
“Living on the ocean and river, no one seems to care about the garbage everywhere,” Pavlick said. “So, I’m trying to get people on board.”
He hoped to incorporate a plant-based cup but said currently Brevard County does not have a place to recycle them.
At Islands Fish Grill, owner Lori Tedesco-Williams said they email or text receipts to customers instead of printing them on paper – and offer incentives to customers who bring their own take-out bag.
The Nomad Café is almost a zero-waste restaurant, and places an emphasis on sourcing sustainable foods.
Tiny Turtle owner Kelly Lieneke said she believes in doing the right thing for the right reason, but believes it’s also very business savvy.
“If there is extensive water pollution, there are no fresh, healthy fish to harvest,” Lieneke said.
According to Shneyder, Surfrider found that 70 percent of restaurants’ trash volume was food and beverage packaging like straws, to-go containers and to-go utensils. She said the other important fact to remember is that plastic does not biodegrade, so virtually every piece of plastic ever created still exists in some form today.
“It is my hope that all of our environmentally conscious Brevard citizens will make it a priority to frequent these restaurants more often, bringing them more business that they deserve,” Shneyder said. “I fell in love with the beach at an early age and it is sickening to me to see the pictures of plastic and trash in the ocean and the harm it is causing to the animals.”
Over the last few decades as grocery stores replaced paper bags with less expensive plastic bags, plastic bottles took over for glass – and the variety of plastic utensils, cups, straws, plates and other products increased in popularity for being cheap and disposal – something else was also increasing: the amount of plastics in the ocean.
It’s been well-documented that plastic kills and injures marine life, disrupts the eco-system, and spreads toxins.
According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) more than 220 million tons of plastic are produced each year, and more than a 1 million seabirds and 100,000 marine animals die each year because of it.
National Geographic cited research in 2015 from three separate studies that found there were around 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic debris in the ocean – and growing.
Two years later, the American Association for the Advancement of Science published a research study called “Production, Use, and Fate of All Plastics Ever Made” that said approximately 90 percent of all plastic waste has never been recycled.
Shneyder said the mission of the OFR program is twofold. They hope to eliminate the use of Styrofoam and plastic and encourage more sustainable and environmentally-friendly practices at restaurants, and they want to increase environmental awareness among consumers to drive changes in behavior.
While she believes community involvement in popular activities like beach cleanups are great, she said it is reactive to the single-use plastic problem.
“This program is proactively trying to stop the plastics at their source, so they don’t make it to the beach and ocean,” Shneyder said. “The more restaurants that make these changes, the less plastic will end up in our oceans. There is a reason most of us live here. We love the community and we love the beach lifestyle.”
