Restaurants are big users…water, paper, electricity, gasoline, etc. We have a long way to go but we are making strides on the journey to be better stewards of the earth we all share.

We use more recycled paper products now than in previous years. Overall our continuous effort to use recycled paper has saved the equivalent of 21,223 trees and it doesn’t stop there either. In 2008, Jason’s deli saved over 9 million gallons of water, nearly 5.5 million kilowatts of energy, nearly 800,000 pounds of air pollution and over 600,000 gallons of oil.

Just by switching many of the paper products we use to recycled paper.

To rephrase Astronaut Neil Armstrong, “That’s one small step for earth, one giant leap for our delis.”

The Centers for Disease Control is telling us that nearly one out of three children in the U.S. ages 2 to 19 is overweight or at risk of becoming overweight. Unless we change this, we’re going to raise generations of really unhealthy kids. Kids and parents need to know more about the food they eat and how to eat healthier. As restaurant owners, we have a responsibility to do the right thing and help fight childhood obesity. We lowered the sodium, saturated fat and calories in our kid’s menu. We serve fresh, more natural, less fooled-around-with food.

And we have an announcement! We are going to invite restaurateurs, academics and public health officials to a national summit on childhood obesity next year. We’re scheduled to visit several cities in the next few weeks to talk it up. Stay tuned.

We love Austin, Texas!

If you haven’t been there, it’s a wonderful city. Check out the Austinist and their mention of our new Solar Panels at our Austin deli on South I-35 at: http://austinist.com/2007/11/14/texas_recycles.php

November 15th is Texas Recycles Day. Time to remember to reuse it. We have eliminated ALL polystyrene packaging in the deli and replaced it with paper or recyclable plastic.

We are almost rid of all of our aerosols too. One more product to go. We’ll get there.

Dear Friends,

Thank you for completing our survey. We never expected 800+ votes and we honestly had no idea what the outcome might be.

Unlike other voting systems, the popular vote counts with us and has already made a difference. In fact, we are speaking with a large soda company who still needs some persuading about switching away from high fructose corn syrup to cane sugar products; and we’re bringing the survey results and your voice to the table. So keep making comments to our blog and tell your friends to vote too. Of course, let them vote anyway that they would like to!

Thanks again,

The Jason’s Deli Family