OUR ECO PROJECTS
SIOUX SPUR – WATER WARRIORS
Sioux Spur in Cape Town is leading the way forward in terms of environmental sustainability while also inspiring other businesses that are looking to save water and money.
“It is a long-term financial investment and a constant saving, even if we do get rain and Day Zero doesn’t come. I hope a lot of stores will benefit through this initiative,” says Gerhard Kitching.
With many parts of South Africa experiencing a devastating drought and water shortages during 2018, Spur Corporation and its restaurants are committed to making every drop count. Sioux Spur in Cape Town is one such restaurant, whose innovation is leading the way forward in terms of environmental sustainability while also inspiring other businesses that are looking to save water and money.
Gerhard Kitching, owner of Sioux Spur, felt compelled to invest in a unique air-to-water system in an effort to minimise the effects Day Zero would have on his business and staff. This ensured Sioux Spur would be able to continue running optimally and the staff wouldn’t have to queue for water.
The system harvests water from the large air-conditioning units and ice machines in-store. The water produced by condensation is captured via big tanks and then fed back into the restaurant’s system. The water goes through a vigorous three-system purification process: carbon purifier, reverse osmosis and finally through a UV-light to kill all bacteria. This ensures the water is clean, safe, and drinkable, and can be used for the taps, basins, toilets and ice machines in the restaurant. The yield is approximately 500 litres per day.
The Spur Eco Team chatted to Gerhard to learn more about this exciting water-harvesting initiative.
#NoToPlastic
John Dory’s is on a mission of change to ensure a better future for generations to come, with their central policy message being ‘People, Planet and Profit’. They are involved in initiatives throughout South Africa and assisting with river and beach clean-ups, encouraging recycling habits, educating the public on reusable products and eliminating single-use plastic items.
Through active engagement with their owner-operated restaurants, John Dory’s have made eradicating single-use plastic takeaway items a priority. To date, they have removed all single-use plastic items, such as plastic bags, plastic straws and polystyrene takeaway boxes, from all participating restaurants.
John Dory’s partnership with the World Wide Fund for Nature’s Southern African Sustainable Seafood Initiative (WWF-SASSI), is central to their commitment of managing our precious ocean resources. Through this collaboration, they have already taken major steps towards reviving the state of our fish stocks through support for sustainable fishing practices. They have also committed to source 100% of their seafood from Aquaculture Stewardship Council or Marine Stewardship Council-certified sources, species that are on the WWF-SASSI Green List, or from sources that are involved in a credible improvement project. Spur Corporation’s procurement and sustainability teams are currently working with WWF-SASSI to ensure that all seafood procured for John Dory’s meets this commitment.
John Dory’s has been active in various eco programmes throughout South Africa with the main goal of promoting a more sustainable way of life, which will benefit both people and the planet. Here are a few projects they are currently supporting:
– The Two Oceans Aquarium’s trash bash beach clean-up programme encourages local communities to do their part in cleaning up beaches and other waterways, to ensure all living organisms that call this habitat home can flourish.
– The Two Oceans Aquarium’s sea turtle rescue, rehabilitation and release project was something that perfectly aligned with our core principles. Lending a helping hand, they adopted a loggerhead sea turtle hatchling, which was named Phiko. With some financial assistance, little Phiko managed to make a remarkable recovery and ultimately was successfully released back into the ocean.
OUR WINNERS
The Green Feather Rewards serves to support and motivate our franchisees in their own green journey. The reward criteria specifically consider improvements in energy consumption, water conservation, waste management and eco-procurement of non-centralised produce.
Spur Corporation’s commitment to creating a sustainable business involves collaboration with our business partners, specifically our franchisees. The Group’s assessment measures franchisees’ environmental performance, and together with the eco checklist, introduces environmental key performance indicators to enable monitoring and improve the understanding of the Group’s total environmental impact. Modules covering environmental responsibility and awareness are included in Spur Training Academy courses provided to franchisee management and employees.
The Green Feather Rewards serve to support and motivate our franchisees in their own green journey. The reward criteria specifically consider improvements in energy consumption, water conservation, waste management and eco-procurement of non-centralised produce. Additional activities such as measuring and monitoring progress, an active green team and environmental community projects also contribute towards a favourable adjudication.
The top-performing restaurants stand a chance to earn their Green Feather Reward in recognition of their outstanding effort in building a sustainable business. Our Green Feather Reward was shared equally amongst the four restaurants showing the most outstanding effort during 2018 in building a sustainable business, namely:
- Big Eagle Spur (Eastern Cape)
- Two Tomahawks Spur (Mpumalanga)
- Panarottis Mthatha (Eastern Cape)
- RocoMamas I’Langa Mall (Mpumalanga)
The four runners-up received additional financial support to go towards further supporting their sustainability journey. In addition to this, they received a plaque/certificate of recognition to display in their restaurant, in-store training, an eco-intervention, social media artwork, the Green Feather icon on the brand’s website and PR content for use on digital platforms and in the press.
Spur Corporation intends to support its franchisees in their endeavours to become more sustainable businesses that focus on the triple bottom line (People, Planet and Profit). To achieve this, the Group aims to be a sustainable business with great brands which make a positive and lasting difference in the lives of our employees, franchisees, communities and the environment.
The well-deserving recipients of the 2017 Green Feather Rewards were:
Winners:
- Panarottis Mthatha (Eastern Cape)
- RocoMamas Mall of Africa (Gauteng)
- Little Eagle Spur (Gauteng)
- Runners-up:
- Big Eagle Spur (Eastern Cape)
- RocoMamas Cresta Crossing (Gauteng)
- Rodeo Spur (Western Cape)
#NoTrashButTreasure
Spur Group’s brands are taking plastic pollution seriously and John Dory’s is leading the charge with Captain Fanplastic!
As part of John Dory’s sustainability project, they’re collaborating with the Captain Fanplastic Schools’ Programme which aims to educate learners about the negative effects plastic pollution has on our precious oceans and the animals that call it home. Trained facilitators execute the four-part programme at carefully selected schools, which end with a clean-up (treasure hunt) in their neighbourhood.
The learners are also taught about the value plastic holds, and encouraged to create the mindset that plastic waste is #NoTrashButTreasure – meaning plastic shouldn’t be thrown away, but picked up and recycled. Where possible, the plastic collected in the various school programmes is processed by local recycling partners or through municipal waste channels.
Recently, the Somerset West Methodist Primary School participated in a day full of fun and learning to clean up more than 14.1kg trash, which they can now turn into treasure! A previous programme rolled out at Morningside Primary saw 32.5kg of waste collected.
These programmes develop environmental literacy and awareness amongst young learners about an environmental-friendly lifestyle, and contribute to keeping their community, beaches and oceans clean and healthy.
The plan is to roll out this fun and educational programme across all primary schools in John Dory’s footprint.
ENVIRONMENT DAY ‘18
The Ocean View Football Annual Environment Day, a Spur Corporation initiative, was a day to remember with plenty of local kids rolling up their sleeves and doing their bit to clean their beach and learn more about the importance of saving water and our precious marine life.
The overall aim of the day was to inspire the enthusiastic young volunteers to save water and appreciate marine life by contributing to the conservation of our oceans for generations to come. With this year’s theme being “Water-wise”, the day was hosted at the Soetwater Environmental Centre in Cape Town, and was a generous collaboration between Two Oceans Aquarium, Cape Town Water Conservation and the Oceans Conservation.
Together with support from Spur Corporation, the day was jam-packed with action, including a clean-up on the beach, educational talks around the importance of saving water, a fun puppet show and the Oceans in Motion mobile aquarium where children had an unforgettable experience with live marine animals. The children were treated to delicious Spur Burgers after all the hard work, fun and learning,
Eco Team member, Earle Cloete (CRM Manager) once again headed up the event on behalf of the Spur Corp. Environmental Committee. Speaking to him on the day, he emphasised the long-term benefits and intentions of the event: “This initiative teaches kids about the importance of saving water and taking responsibility for the well-being of marine life and the environment.”
With the commitment and enthusiasm shown by all involved, the youth of Ocean View can rest assured that their future is looking very bright.
JOHN DORY’S ECO VOYAGE
In collaboration with Spur Corporation, John Dory’s is committed to sustainable business practices through the Group’s Eco Voyage Vision for a more sustainable future.
John Dory’s franchisees and staff are ensuring the Group’s environmental sustainability policy is a living reality in their restaurants. They demonstrate the brand’s commitment to sustainability with a specific focus on the preservation of our oceans and natural seafood resources, while proactively managing unexpected cost implications.
Green operational reports encourage franchisees to focus on energy reduction and saving, water conservation, waste reduction, community projects, and provide data and feedback that supports further research and development in technologies to help reduce our environmental impact.
The staff of John Dory’s Wilson’s Wharf recently did their bit to help keep their local community clean, looking beautiful and helping protect wildlife from the harmful effects of plastic pollution.
Nico Kruger, from John Dory’s Galleria, also did fantastic work in November 2018 to help combat the amount of litter that enters the oceans via the rivers and waterways, which kills millions of sea birds, marine mammals and fish each year. Working closely with Shaun Callaghan, the duo build inventive barriers in their local communities that utilise 2 litre bottles filled with plastic waste. The bottles are strapped together to form a chain which is securely wrapped in shade cloth. This creates a barrier that floats above the water line, that stops any floating litter, specifically plastic, from flowing downstream – allowing the trapped waste to be collected for recycling.
SMASHING IT ON ECO!
RocoMamas is on a mission towards rockin’ sustainability and ongoing brand excellence with eco kudos! Rocos Table View decided to put their money where their mouths are and can claim to be the first fully green considered interior for the brand!
The aim was to become more energy and water efficient while also reducing the environmental impact of the waste generated at the restaurant. This would furthermore reduce their overall carbon footprint through mindful product choices and operations.
Encouraged by the shift towards sustainability within the Spur Corporation during the past few years, franchisees Alan Ranson and Derek McMahon of Ranmac Restaurant Group committed to a responsible approach in fitting out the new RocoMamas Table View.
The fit-out required a total revamp which allowed smaller customised windows to reduce direct sun and heat generation, and large stacker doors, while skylights provide natural light and roof turbines ventilators allow for fresh air. State-of-the-art extraction system on the grill with variable speed drive allows for efficient and quiet management of heat and smoke generated through cooking, while the cold room has additional insulation with audible open-door alarm.
Energy is managed with an App-based real-time monitoring system, while all lights are LEDs. Induction cookers replaced the standard boiling table and the underbar fridges have zero emission technology, while a solar water geyser is used for heating of water. Besides water-efficient taps and toilets, they also collect greywater from bathroom basins, air conditioning and the ice machine for reuse in toilets.
Over 30 tons of building rubble was re-used to create raised areas and fill trenches, with old paving cleaned and reused instead of sent to landfill. Separation at source allows for better waste management, including recycling and composting. Paints and wood varnish contained no or low volatile organic compounds (VOCs), while the epoxy flooring in kitchen replaced traditional tiles making it more hygienic and hard wearing.
ENERGY SAVING IN A CLICK
Energyrite provides a digital platform for real-time energy reading, coupled with data analysis software to reduce energy consumption and costs, which leads to reduced carbon emissions. By the end of April 2019, the Group already had 193 restaurants signed up and using Energyrite to manage and verify consumption.
Energyrite solutions further offer real-time electricity, gas and water readings, addressing excessive wastage and high-energy usage. With the metrics provided, restaurants can learn to manage energy and water usage beyond the monthly bill. Automated controls on in-store appliances provide energy savings 24/7.
Measurability and verification (M&V) is very important with any saving project, and the Energyrite system allows for full M&V with accurate data collection based on kWh consumption. Verification of financial savings can be done through comparison to utility bills received from landlords or municipalities.
The ultimate outcome is reduced energy bills, with savings of up to 50%. The indicators include the energy savings (kWh) and cost (Rand), while non-tangibles include staff awareness.
To learn more about this effective App, contact the Eco Team.