The Prairie Inn Neighbourhood Pub has been a Central Saanich staple for almost 50 years. Now, they’re taking some significant steps to safeguard their future and that of the world we live in.
In one fell swoop, the management has switched all their plastic products to compostable ones – from straws and napkins to salad cups, almost everything used by the restaurant is now biodegradable.
According to Jamie Day, one of the owners of the pub, the move is both an effort to reduce their harmful impact on the environment and a way to cut costs on waste. “Garbage weight is more expensive than compost waste weight,” says Day.
One big challenge
Now that the Prairie Inn generates much more compost than inorganic waste materials, their main issue is disposal.
Since the municipality does not provide large metal bins for compost, instead reserving those for non-biodegradable garbage, the restaurant is now facing the issue of what to do with their large amounts of organic waste.
Unfortunately, they have had to throw some of their compost into regular garbage bins because of this lack of space, as leaving the trash outside would attract raccoons and other creatures.
Still, for a company that has been around since 1974, taking the initiative to reduce waste as much as they did is a significant step.
“Sorry it took us so long to be at this point but we’re there, we’re on the right track, and we’re gonna keep trying to make the environment better,” says Jamie Day.
