Developing sustainable restaurant services as part of the Sustainable Campus vision at Aalto University

1. Developing sustainable
restaurant services as part
of the Sustainable Campus
vision at Aalto University
SUSTAINABLE DESIGN CASE PROJECT
Ilkka Kelaranta, Mridu Mehta, Pinja Heininen
NUDGING
FOR CHANGE

2. Our Focus
...To enable the restaurants
to serve more eco-friendly food
...To encourage customers
to consume more eco-friendly food
...Discourage consumer food waste

3. PART 1: BUILDING A ROADMAP...................Slide 6-19
Role of restaurants and food in environmental
sustainability studied and ideas offered.
PART 2: TEST CASE.....................................Slide 20-30
Two Weeks One Plate campaign pilot tested for
2 weeks to reduce consumer food waste in campus
restaurant. RESULT: upto 20% reduction in food waste
This presentation has 2 parts
Skip to part 2 for interesting results (and my favorite part of the project :)

4. DESIGN PROCESS: week 1- 4
Information
Collection
Problem Definition,
Ideation, Roadmap
Environmental
impact in
Finland
Percentage of
consumption per
person per day
Environmental impacts:
· Climate change
· Primary energy consumption
· Ground-level ozone formation
· Acidification
· Eutrophication of waters
The remaining 52.5% includes:
· Clothing
· Home furnishings, appliances
and accessories
· Health
· Hotels, cafes and restaurants
· Education
· Refreshments and culture
Source: The Eco-Benchmark Project
(SYKE, MTT, BSc, FGFRI), Nissinen et al. 2007.
Material: Mäenpää, 2005 / as a method of
national input-output method
FOOD
20.5%
HOUSING
AND ENERGY
15%
TRANSPORTATION
12%
• Nordic Climate Festival
• HENVI Seminar
• Other restaurants’
initiatives: Katri-Antell in
Dipoli, Unicafe, Fazer Amica
biowaste, Lahti schools
• Food MIPS report
• Low carbon footprint meal
report by Jenni Saarelmaa
• Stakeholder mapping and
prioritization
• Designing Behaviour
through polarity scenario
• Future visions
• Identifying benefits and
barriers
• Ideas organised into
a Roadmap
Meeting Important
Stakeholders
• Meri Löyttyniemi,
Sustainability Planner,
Aalto University
• Restaurant Advisory
Board
• Continuous feedback
from Katri-Antell chief
at TaiK, Hanna
Rosenberg

5. Presentation to Board Test Case Implemented
Test Case Results
Feedback to Customers
Aalto
Sustainable
Restaurant
Services
A Roadmap
SUSTAINABLE DESIGN CASE PROJECT
Pinja Heininen, Ilkka Kelaranta, Mridu Mehta
In collaboration with
• Positive response from
the Restaurant Board
• Pilot test for 2 weeks
to reduce consumer food
waste in Katri-Antell
• Results of the test weeks
were shared during the
test period
• The final result was also
displayed at the end of the
test
DESIGN PROCESS: week 5-7

6. PART 1
Building a Roadmap for Aalto
Sustainable Restaurant Services

7. Food has the highest
environmental impact
in terms of CO2
emissions in Finland
The choices made by restaurants have a huge
affect all the way from the primary production to
the consumers plate. Therefore they have a really
important role in making the food and its production
chain more sustainable.
INFORMATION COLLECTION

8. Environmental
impact in
Finland
Percentage of
consumption per
person per day
Environmental impacts:
· Climate change
· Primary energy consumption
· Ground-level ozone formation
· Acidification
· Eutrophication of waters
The remaining 52.5% includes:
· Clothing
· Home furnishings, appliances
and accessories
· Health
· Hotels, cafes and restaurants
· Education
· Refreshments and culture
Source: The Eco-Benchmark Project
(SYKE, MTT, BSc, FGFRI), Nissinen et al. 2007.
Material: Mäenpää, 2005 / as a method of
national input-output method
FOOD
20.5%
HOUSING
AND ENERGY
15%
TRANSPORTATION
12%

9. Comparison of Environmental Impact of Food Items in terms of CO2 Emissions
All values in kg CO2 -ekv./kg
MEAT DAIRY PRODUCTS EDIBLE OILS VEGETABLES MAIN COURSE ADDITIONS FRUITS
CHEESE
13,0
BUTTER
6,5
OLIVE OIL
1,2
RAPESEED OIL
0,8
BANANA
0,5
ORANGE
0,3
APPLE
0,1
MELON
1,1
BEEF
20.5
PORK
3,8
CHICKEN
2,9
SALMON
1,3
EGG
2,2
WHOLE MILK
1,1
MILK
1,0
PALM OIL
0,3
GREENHOUSE
CUCUMBER
4,7
GREENHOUSE
SALAD
3,7
GREENHOUSE
TOMATO
2,7
CARROT
0,1
CUCUMBER
2,3
OUTDOOR
SALAD
0,4
TOMATO
0,8
POTATO
0,1
RICE
2,9
BARLEY
2,0
WHOLEGRAIN
BARLEY
1,1
WHEAT
0,4
MAIZE
0,4
RYE
0,3
OATS
0,4
Source: Vahahiilinenateria - Low carbon footprint meal report by Jenni Saarelma

10. Finland
76 kg
China
46 kg
India
4 kg
U.S
120 kg
Consumption of meat per person/year
Source: FAO, State of Food and Agriculture Report 2009

11. Europe North
America
Ocenia
Industrialized
Asia
Sub
Sahara
Africa
North Africa,
West
Central Asia
South
Southeast
Asia
Latin
America
Per Capita Food Losses
and Waste kg/yr
Consumer
Production
to retailing
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
Source FAO (2011): Global food losses and food waste

12. IDEATION: Designing behaviour - polarity scenario

13. Shift from animal
farming to natural
farming
Eating meat
becomes rare
Lesser CO2-emissions,
mostly because of
lower livestock
Concentration on
other environmental
issues
Less space
needed
More space to
grow natural food
Social equality -
people eat same food
all over the world
People eating
environmentally
healthy food/
people eating
less meat
Healthier
people
Reduced spending
on healthcare
New species
can be developed
Less producers,
higher prices
Less energy
needed
IDEATION: Future Visions

14. ...Economical barriers: Organic and local food
is currently costly - LUXURY LABEL
...Customer attitudes and lifestyle
...Misleading information about eco-food in media
...Negative mainstream image and reputation
of ecological food, especially vegetarian food
...Different policies followed by the various restaurant
companies on campus
Barriers to eco-friendly food consumption

15. Benefits
For Restaurants
...Monetary savings for the restaurant services
· Savings on price of vegetarian food over non-vegetarian food
· Optimised supply chain
...Image and reputation for the restaurant services
· Vegetarian food has a good image with women
· Good PR for restaurants
BENEFITS

16. Benefits
For Customers and Society
...Healthy and slow lifestyle for consumers
...Positive thinking
...Reduced Environmental impacts (The total life cycle environmental impacts)
-Climate change (greenhouse gas emissions)
-Eutrophication
-Acidification
-Land use, biodiversity
-Ecotoxicity
...Increasing knowledge amongst customers and restaurants
BENEFITS

17. Roadmap for Aalto Sustainable Restaurant Services 2020
Lays out all our ideas on a timeline. Ideas are mapped starting with the easiest
to implement and those that appear to be more easily acceptable by customers
Toolkit for restaurants
For other campus restaurants to replicate suggested roadmap and test case
SOLUTIONS

18. SOLUTION: Roadmap for Aalto Sustainable Restaurant Services
Recycling; Waste Management Optimised Logistics, Efficient use of resources
Reduce beef, rice and greenhouse salads consumption
Encourage competition amongst restaurants for ‘greener’ results
2020
Targets
achieved
for each
Two Weeks One Plate campaign
+ info awareness
Plate model
Awareness about ‘true costs’:
Show CO2 footprint of food
Serve only fair trade coffee
Serve all food in the same
line on the buffet table
Serve previous days’ food first
Environmental pass
Online platform to connect
campus restaurants
Raise the price of environmentally
straining food
Theme days: Veggie day,
Surprise Menu day etc.
Tastier seasonal and vegetarian
food by serving fresh herbs
Herbs grown in Otaniemi urban
gardens - served in restaurant
Aalto environmental policy/
standards
Feedback system - connect
better with customers
Modifying meat recipes to
reduce meat consumption- e.g
adding soy to bolognese
Invest in seasonal food
Remove Greenhouse salads
Eco-food
Pop-up
restaurant
Marketing
diets e.g after
christmas
Calories
counted food
Reward vegetarians
with lower prices
Shadow pricing
achieved
Major percentage
of food is seasonal
Completely remove
beef and rice
Minimize food waste
to nil
2012

19. SOLUTION: Toolkit for restaurants
Aalto
Kestävä
Kampus
Työkalupakki
Ravintolat

20. PART 2
Test Case: Two Weeks One Plate Campaign
Please find attached
Nudging for Change, a paper I wrote for the course Creating the Mindset of Sustainable
Societies in 2012. It discusses nudging as a behaviour change strategy using the Two
Weeks One Plate campaign as a succesful example.

21. PROBLEM
Students were throwing away too much food
at the end of meals
INSIGHT: Consumers loading too much food
on their plates?
Restaurant offered consumers the choice of two
plates – a smaller plate for salad and a bigger
one for the main course.
IDEA
Take away the salad plates and see what happens.

22. • Pilot test for 2 weeks with support from Katri-Antell
Restaurant
• Customers were expected to manage their meal with
the one big plate provided
• Campaign material developed to nudge customers to
participate:
- Promotional stand
- Interactive feedback corner
- Information leaflet
- Feedback Poster

23. 2 Stands at strategic
locations in the restaurant
during the pilot test to
announce the campaign
EEKS
NE
LATE
PARTICIPATE!
Our target is to reduce the amount
of food thrown away at the end of
every meal. The small salad plate
is taken away for two weeks.
We are going to monitor the
amount of food waste generated
at our restaurant. If our, customers
can manage with one plate,
we believe it will reduce the
amount of food thrown away
at the end of every meal.
www.aalto.fi/en/about/sustainability

24. Interactive Feedback Corner
Used to collect customer
feedback. Also a tool
to increase customer
engagement with the
campaign by giving them
a place to express heir
opinion using post-its.
The corner also tracked
the amount of food waste
recorded at the end of
every day for all to see.

25. Supporting Leaflet
./kg
CO2 Comparison
Meal effect
GREENHOUSE SALAD
BEEF MEAT
RICE
3,5525 kg CO2 -ekv.
CARROT, ORANGE, APPLE
POTATOES
SALMON
0,179 kg CO2 -ekv.
All above food items are 1 kg each.
EGG
2,2
WHOLE MILK
1,1
MILK
1,0
BEEF
20.5
PORK
3,8
CHICKEN
2,9
SALMON
1,3
CHEESE
13,0
BUTTER
6,5
OLIVE OIL
1,2
RAPESEED OIL
0,8
PALM OIL
0,3
GREENHOUSE
CUCUMBER
4,7
GREENHOUSE
SALAD
3,7
GREENHOUSE
TOMATO
2,7
CARROT
0,1
CUCUMBER
2,3
TOMATO
0,8
OUTDOOR
SALAD
0,4
WHEAT
0,4
MAIZE
0,4
RYE
0,3
OATS
0,4
POTATO
0,1
RICE
2,9
BARLEY
2,0
WHOLEGRAIN
BARLEY
1,1
BANANA
0,5
ORANGE
0,3
APPLE
0,1
MELON
1,1
MEATDAIRYPRODUCTSEDIBLEOILSVEGETABLESMAINCOURSEADDITIONSFRUITS
All values in kg CO2-ekv./kg
Source: VÄHÄHIILINEN ATERIA
Comparison of Environmental Impact
of Food in terms of CO2 Emissions
Leaflet placed next to the
buffet table aimed at nudging
customers to pick more eco-
friendly food on their plates

26. Did this reduce the amount
of food you threw away
at the end of every meal?
Feedback Corner Response by Customers
Katri-Antell Sodexo
Yes 25.8% 20%
No 51% 66%
Maybe 23.2% 14%
Katri-Antell Sodexo
Yes 65.5% 39%
No 25% 54%
Maybe 9.5% 6%
Can you manage
without a salad plate?
The campaign was conducted by Meri, the Sustainability Planner at Aalto University
6 months later in another restaurant Sodexo, Otaniemi and the results are included here.
We asked:

27. Results Conclusions
Amount of Food Waste
decreased on an average
(as compared to before
the test weeks):
Katri-Antell: 20%
Sodexo: 15.25%
The response of customers on the
feedback corner indicates that they do
not believe that taking away the salad
plate reduces the amount of food waste.
Our measurements of food waste thrown
at the end of every meal however show
otherwise. For this reason, we decided
to declare the results at the end of the
test weeks as a poster (as shown on the
next slide) to let customers know that
their participation did make a significant
difference

28. AALTO SUSTAINABLE CAMPUS
KIITOS OSALLISTUMISESTA!
Kaksi Viikkoa, Yksi Lautanen -
kampanjan aikana vähensitte
ruokajätteen määrää 20%.
Yhden vuoden aikana yli 3000
litraa täysin syötävää ruokaa
pelastuisi jäteastialta.
Vähensitte myös astianpesupro-
sessissa tarvittavaa vettä, sähköä,
pesuainetta ja tilan käyttöä.
THANK YOU FOR PARTICIPATING!
During the Two Weeks One Plate
Campaign, you reduced the amount
of consumer food waste by 20%.
Over one years time, this would
prevent over 3000 ltrs of edible food
reaching the dustbin!
In the dishwashing process, you also
reduced the amount of water, electrical
energy, detergent and space used.
Poster informing customers that
the amount of consumer food
waste decreased during the pilot
test weeks.
The campaign gathered positive
response from most customers.
Unfortunately, at the end of the
campaign the restaurant decided
to bring the salad plates back
because they did not want to
alienate the customers that did not
approve. However, we observed that
conscientious customers continued
to use one plate only even after the
salad plates were reintroduced. The
restaurant has on its own initiative
discouraged the use of salad plates by
placing them after the big plates
(it was the opposite before).

29. Project Follow Up
• Project well recieved by the Restaurant Board of the University
• Project presented at Design in Glocal Transformation Seminar
in EnsAD 2012
• Project presented at Nordic Sustainable Campus Network
(NSCN) Seminar 2013
• Two Weeks One Plate campaign also tested totally in 3 campus
cafeterias till date by the University
• 1 restaurant does not use the salad plates till date (Dec 2013)

30. THANK YOU
Please find attached
Nudging for Change, a paper I wrote for the course
Creating the Mindset of Sustainable Societies in 2012.
It discusses nudging as a behaviour change strategy using
the Two Weeks One Plate campaign as a succesful example.