Sharing Your Vision

This page is both about promoting the work you do and getting your customers involved. 

As Claire Sprouse was quoted as saying about her bar Hunky Dory in Food & Wine:

“Our menu is written intentionally not to just hit people over the head with this. I’d say that 80% of the people who come in are regulars. They’re just here to take a step away from their house, not to get a lecture, so I like to drop hints, in a way,” she says. “We have a drink with sunflower seeds which I use to replace almonds—a traditional cocktail ingredient—but sunflower seeds are so much more sustainable. When people see that, they ask questions and they’re curious and excited about learning, so it’s not just, Oh here comes the soapbox.”

 However, a visit to Hunky Dory's website or Instagram quickly reveals that the bar is thinking about bigger issues than just a great menu. The website has recently added a function that makes it more accessible to the vision-impaired, and shares the bar's pledge to be accessible in person as well. On their Instagram account, the bar shares both pictures of food/beverages and of causes they support (and encourage their patrons to do as well). 

Ways to Get Your Customers Involved

• On the social media pages for your venue, share causes and programs you sponsor and encourage customers to support them as well. The causes might be anything from charities favored by bartenders to petitions to local government to start municipal composting.
• On the cocktail menu, some bars have a "charity cocktail" that rotates with a different sponsored charity every month/season, with $1/drink or some other amount going to the cause. Sometimes liquor brands may participate/sponsor the drink so that the bar loses no money. 
• At True Laurel in San Francisco, funds from their top-selling Mai O Mai cocktail go toward charitable causes.

Getting Your Staff Involved 

• See some tips on the Getting Started page
• Commuting is Part of the Bar's Footprint. How many employees drive to work versus biking versus taking public transit? Is there a way to encourage less-environmentally taxing transit, such as providing a place for bikes to be locked safely, or a membership to a closeby gym for employees who bike to work (so they can shower there), or a membership to a bike-sharing program, or public transit rebates? 
• Involving Employees in the Waste Audit (from this page). The book covers a lot on conducting a waste audit. It covers the case for all sorts of businesses but one factor is that employees can be involved in the process- when calculating inflow and outflow of waste, make it public among the staff (if they're not directly involved) and share the findings and improvements. Employees typically enjoy being part of the success of the company.