Dunedin restaurants team up to go green

DUNEDIN — More and more restaurants in downtown Dunedin are choosing to go green, ditching plastic and styrofoam for bio-degradable paper products.

The goal is to eventually convince every business in town to join the mission.

Crown & Bull is one of more than a dozen restaurants teaming up for this new Dunedin Go Green Initiative.

"Recycled cardboard, compostable plastic, paper straws, to-go-bags, coffee cups are recyclable," said owner Dion Falzon listing off all his new environmentally friendly products.

Falzon said it's more than just an initiative; it's a way of life.

"We were seeing some styrofoam throughout the town, and it just really rubbed us the wrong way, so we shined a light on, ‘hey there are other products out there with similar prices that are better for the environment,’" said Falzon.

Down the street, The Honu is another restaurant trying to lead by example.

"Well, the Honu means turtle in Hawaiian, so obviously want to save the turtles, save the oceans," said owner Kimberly Platt.

Then there's Casa Tina with a stack of bio-degradable containers ready to go behind the bar.

"I think all of us share the same goal; ultimately, it's just getting the word of mouth of everyone to hear how easy it is for us to switch," said assistant manager Laurie Fidler.

All of these businesses are working together with Auburn Supply Group out of Clearwater.

"The more businesses that join, our pricing goes down," said Platt. "We have our restaurant meeting every month and we go through in details, ‘I’m saving this much on my to-go boxes, I’m saving this much on my bags,’ if you join the restaurant group you learn how it's going to save them money."

The city of Dunedin also endorsed the initiative, promoting these businesses on its website.

"This movement is so successful because it's not an all-or-nothing approach. It's about meeting each other where we can, doing the best we can today, and then keeping that movement going forward," said Sustainability Program Coordinator Natalie Gass.

These restaurants believe a little friendly peer pressure will entice more businesses to jump on board this goal of going green.

"This is just the beginning for us. We really want to take this further, get the whole town involved, and then have a ripple effect with our neighboring cities throughout the country, why not start here," said Falzon.

The next step is putting green stickers in the windows of all these businesses to let customers know which ones are part of Dunedin Go Green.

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