Rhodora, a Brooklyn wine bar and restaurant, is one of the few restaurants in the country that does not send any trash or food waste to a landfill. This means you won't find a traditional trashcan on the site, and nevermind any single-use plastic for leftovers. What you will find, however, are compost collection bins that host any leftovers, a dishwashing setup that converts salt into soap, and inviting mini-gardens outside the wine bar. As people wake up to the reality of mass waste production, especially in gastronomy and hospitality industries, some companies are starting to replace their old practices with new waste-reduction ones. 

“We’re in the business of serving people,” said Henry Rich, a co-owner of Rhodora. “And it feels incongruent to take care of somebody for an evening and try to show them a great time, and then externalize the waste and carbon footprint of that evening onto people.”

Abiding by the zero-waste ethos can be more than just composting, however, as Rhodora has even gone as far as meticulously selecting distributors and producers who are capable of adhering to the mission. Each week, fresh bread and produce such as eggs, pickled vegetables, and cheese are delivered by bicycle in reusable plastic bins. Sometimes a little packaging is unavoidable, but Rhodora makes sure it's compostable. By keeping their paper menus simple and in accordance with what's locally available, the restaurant serves fresh and one of a kind dishes alongside their green mission. 

By decreasing their footprint and feeding the byproducts of the restaurant back into the business through avid composting and cultivating mini-gardens, Rhodora is actually creating handprints. While most restaurants direct their waste into a landfill, thereby leaving a negative impact on the world, Rhodora does quite the opposite. Corks from their wine bottles are donated to ReCork, who repurposes the material for shoe soles and yoga blocks. Natural wine bottles and other non-compostable containers are removed for recycling. And most importantly, the ability for Rhodora to inspire others and influence other establishments to operate under a zero-waste ethos leaves the greatest handprint of all. 

Read more about their effort here: