Veganism encompasses more than the cooking and serving of plant-based foods—it’s a lifestyle dedicated to taking care of the planet as a whole, and the sources through which we receive and use energy play a major role in that stewardship.
There are many ways to reduce your carbon footprint and help make the world greener, cleaner, and more environmentally sound—one of which is to avoid fossil fuels consumption as well as products, services, and businesses that contribute to climate change (ie: factory farming), and saying yes to sustainable sources of green, renewable energy.
GLENN’S COMMITMENT
This was a decision Glenn Whitehead, co-founder of Plant Matter Kitchen, made a long time ago and has remained committed to ever since.
Tightly woven into Glenn’s vegan lifestyle is a commitment to practice sustainable methods of consumption, whether it be through the food he chooses to eat or the energy he uses to power his home, his eatery Plant Matter Kitchen, and his marketing agency Kre’Adiv House.
Both London-based businesses are completely powered by clean, green energy through Bullfrog Power, Canada’s 100% green energy provider. Entering the Canadian market of green energy retail in 2005, Bullfrog Power’s energy services and offerings include: wind, low-impact hydro, and green natural gas.
PMK IS GREEN — IN FOOD & IN ENERGY
“Using green, clean energy is in line with all of PMK’s values; being rooted in sustainability, being rooted in working with local communities and smaller start-up organizations, and being rooted in overall environmental commitment. So using Bullfrog Power very early on was an important goal of ours,” says Glenn.
Operating a vegan restaurant is about more than the food itself; it’s also about how the food is cooked and prepared. “We really do believe at Plant Matter Kitchen that the energy that goes into the creation of the food is a critical part of the ingredients,” says Glenn. “When you’re using sustainable energy that’s less harmful, that’s committed to a greener world, I think that actually contributes to making the food taste better. It also contributes to making the world better.”
Using Bullfrog Power helps PMK hit the marks of sustainability and environmental commitment, which in turn helps the eatery produce food that’s top-quality, local, organic, plant-based vegan, and cruelty-free.
A SUSTAINABLE WAY FORWARD
Utilizing Bullfrog Power helps PMK do good for the environment—help fight climate change, reduce air pollution, and minimize carbon footprint—and work toward Glenn’s ultimate goal for the eatery: to be carbon neutral.
“Reducing the overall carbon footprint by investing and co-investing with Bullfrog Power allows us to know that the electricity—which is a substantial amount that goes into running the restaurant from a day to day perspective—is at least coming from sustainable options as opposed to coal and other high output energy sources.”
Using green energy aligns with PMK’s value-driven business practices and business ethics, as it’s incumbent on businesses to take responsibility for the effect they have on local and distant communities, and not just consider the bottom line.
A COMMUNITY ENDEAVOUR
Investing in Bullfrog Power energy is another way that Plant Matter Kitchen is doing their best to instill positive change in the community of London, Ontario and throughout the world. Glenn congratulates friends who have chosen the same path toward sustainable energy, such as Shawn and Shannon Slade of Booch Organic Kombucha, and encourages other companies to join the movement as well:
“Working together with likeminded organizations… you can substantially multiply the positive effect of that outcome. When you’re working with a number of local businesses who are committed to the same principles as you, those effects ripple through the community, the communication power of that ripples through the community, the employees and the teams that make up those other businesses are all exposed to the same message and then they’re passing that on. One company committed to Bullfrog Power or committed to sustainability has the effect that it can have, but three of four working together can triple, quadruple, and even more — increase the positive effect of that message.”
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Booch Organic Kombucha, Bullfrog Power, Clean Energy, Environmentalism, Green Energy, Kre’Adiv House, Sustainability, Vlog
