EcoMeter: This sustainable restaurant guide helps Vancouver diners make good choices

A new online resource hub that will help diners make eco-friendly decisions when dining in or taking out is launching today in Metro Vancouver.

EcoMeter, a guide to Vancouver’s eco-friendlier restaurants, is the winning concept of the inaugural Brand Battle for Good. The competition saw participating teams strategizing on waste-reduction solutions for the community.

According to Jill Robinson, a member of the Brand Battle for Good team who created EcoMeter, the original inspiration for the sustainable dining guide stemmed from compulsory restaurant health code ratings in New York City.

EcoMeter Team (Missy Shana/Submitted)

“Every single establishment receives a rating from A, B, C based on their health inspection result and must have it clearly visible to diners,” explained Robinson to Daily Hive. “This concept allows everyone in NYC to choose where to eat based on the cleanliness and rating of the restaurant.

“We took this concept and applied it with a lens of sustainability and community support. How can we educate consumers on the best places to eat that are mindful of their carbon ‘food’-print? And how can we facilitate greener decisions for restaurants by educating them and connecting them with local partners who can easily help them take steps forward?”

EcoMeter Team (Missy Shana/Submitted)

EcoMeter uses four pillars to evaluate each restaurant listed in their online guide: food waste, eco-packaging, supply chain, and community initiatives. Diners can then easily sort by the eco initiative on the online restaurant guide.

Foodies can sort by top eco-rating or newest restaurant, or search by city or eatery name.

Restaurants can also sign up to be part of EcoMeter to show climate-conscious diners what they’re doing to be sustainable.

Off The Tracks Espresso Bar and Bistro on Granville Island is a highly-rated eatery on EcoMeter. (@offthetracksbistro/Instagram)

“Many of us aren’t thinking about why our choices matter when it comes to the convenience of ordering or experiencing a restaurant in terms of our carbon footprints,” said Robinson. “We exist to shine a light and educate the community as we believe that we can’t make better choices without knowing the impact of everything that goes into a meal.”

As the team that created the most innovative and implementable idea as crowd-voted by all participants at Brand Battle for Good 2021, EcoMeter won an upcycled trophy from ChopValue as well as $50,000 in in-kind marketing support from PS DDB and Daily Hive to help launch their solution in Vancouver.

EcoMeter Team outside of Shuck Shack in Chinatown, another highly-rated restaurant in the online guide. (Missy Shana/Submitted)

Robinson shared that their volunteer team at Brand Battle for Good was made up of solo attendees who quickly bonded over shared passions and values.

“Our whole team has learned a ton over this process in the last year,” added Robinson. “We’ve learned to dream big and to listen to the experts in the field.

“When we started, none of our team members knew much about the food waste and packaging industry at all when it came to restaurant orders. We consulted and collaborated with some key partners who had been in the space much longer, and took their advice to pivot our concept as it matured.”

EcoMeter is also building an eco-community, helping to link industry partners to eateries that want to make a positive change so they can take action in the four pillars. Partners include Too Good To Go, Vancouver Food Runners, and Ocean Wise Seafood.

Vancouver Food Runners (Sarah Murray/Submitted)

Robinson said that EcoMeter wants to align with the City of Vancouver’s 2040 Zero Waste plan and help to create the greenest city in the world. The team is also brainstorming ideas on how the concept can be applied to other places in the future.

“The facts of climate change and huge amounts of waste around the globe are both sobering and inevitable,” Robinson said. “We are privileged to work, live and play on ancestral and unceded Coast Salish territories of Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, Tsleil-Waututh, and Musqueam Nations, and we need to take care of this land for generations to come.

“EcoMeter is a resource for our community to make a positive and preventative change to support businesses that give a damn. We truly think that education can empower and ripple change throughout the industry.”

To learn more about EcoMeter, visit eco-meter.ca.