Celebrate Earth Day (April 22 ) with a renewed commitment to take better care of our planet. Many desert area restaurants and resorts encourage and promote green and eco-friendly practices. More than two dozen restaurants in Indian Wells and Rancho Mirage participate in Burrtec’s commercial food waste composting program, according to Coachella Valley district environmental coordinator Jennifer Salciccioli.
“Each contributor disposes of food waste and other acceptable items — except glass, plastic, metal, and Styrofoam — in a separate container that is picked up by Burrtec three times a week and taken to a compost facility [Coachella Valley Compost] in north Coachella,” she says. “The food is composted with other green waste and later sold to agriculture, landscape, and golf course companies for composting local crops, golf courses, gardens, and yards.”
Rancho Las Palmas Resort, Roy’s, Wally’s Desert Turtle, Eldorado Country Club, Indian Wells Golf Resort, Jensen’s Minute Deli, Bangkok Five, P.F. Chang’s, and The Crab Pot are among current Burrtec participants. Palm Desert is working with Burrtec to implement a restaurant food waste-recycling program similar to those in Rancho Mirage and Indian Wells. Palm Desert’s Costco, Sam’s Club, and Super Wal-Mart have food waste diversion programs in place in which food waste is separated and sent to a local composting facility.
In Palm Springs, Ace Hotel & Swim Club has its own Ecovim composting machine. The resort’s resident chef grows food on property and sources local food vendors. Naturally, they also recycle. To highlight its environmental commitments, Ace held a Good Earth sustainability event last summer to celebrate its compost machine. Everybody received a potted plant and bag of enriched soil to take home.