Food Service

If your business involves food service, below are a few things you can do to keep litter, grease, cleansers and other pollutants from illegally polluting our creeks and Bay. The materials at our Resource Library illustrate in detail the best ways to keep an environmentally-sound business, and even include contact information on companies you can contract for waste disposal and recycling.

• Don't wash kitchen mats outside. Wash kitchen mats indoors near the floor drain or in the mop sink. If you don't have either, take the mats to a coin-operated car wash or have a company wash them for you.
• Don't pressure wash building exteriors and sidewalks using soap unless storm drains are blocked and wash water vacuumed up or pumped into the sanitary sewer.
• Clean outside waste storage areas and parking areas by first sweeping up food particles, cigarette butts, and trash. If water or cleansers are needed, spot mop the area and dispose of water into a sink or toilet.
• Don't scrub down trash containers using toxic detergents and don't wash them into alley or street gutter. Discharge all wash waters into sanitary sewers. Contract a mobile cleaning company who agrees to collect all wash water for proper disposal.
• Don't dump grease into trash bins, street gutters, or sewers. It clogs pipelines. Keep grease storage areas clean. Collect bulk grease in containers and contract a company to haul them away. These are located under "grease" or "tallow" in your phone directory. The grease will be recycled into useful products like soap or animal feed.
• Prevent litter by providing adequate receptacles for waste and keeping dumpster lids closed.
• Control pests using less toxic pest management methods and appropriate timing of pesticide use.