“The Earth is what we all have in common.”
- Wendell Berry
At a UNESCO conference in 1969, peace activist John McConnell suggested the idea of celebrating Earth Day. Now, April 22 is celebrated as Earth Day every year. The intention was to protect the earth from man-made destruction. We are all aware, global warming and climate change have already begun to show their adverse effects around the world. It is a ‘now or never’ situation.
This year’s Earth Day theme is “Invest in Our Planet,”.
There is a Native American proverb that goes, “We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.” This idea, along with the knowledge that the resources of our planet are quickly disappearing, inspires us at McDonald’s to do our best to be responsible.
We would like to share with you some of McDonald’s eco friendly measures and the ESG (environmental, social, and corporate governance) initiatives that Westlife has adopted and the results for which are here for everyone to take notice.
Energy conservation
- There is an energy management system in more than 275 restaurants.
- The air conditioning is on auto-on and auto-off with temperature cloud controllers.
- We have installed the top ten most energy-conserving kitchen appliances, which operate on auto-on and auto-off controllers too.
- Real-time electricity, DG Set Diesel, and LPG consumption are monitored and controlled.
- To increase the use of renewable energy, solar rooftop panels have been installed.
- We use an evaporative air-cooling system for the kitchens.
- We use economizers (energy-efficient devices), LED bulbs, and OATS (order assembly table sets).
- We have motion sensors installed to control lighting consumption and waste in the back area of the store.
Water conservation
- All our taps are replaced with push pillar cocks and added with low-flow aerators.
- Waterless urinals have become a standard feature in our restrooms.
- We have installed a high-water recovery RO system and reuse RO reject water for gardening and restroom usage.
Packaging
- Westlife prioritizes the use of paper or biodegradable material (corn starch) and eliminates single-use plastic from customer-facing packaging.
- We have procured FSC-certified paper for customer-facing packaging.
- Plastic cutlery has been replaced with cleaner equivalents like wood, PLA, and paper.
Resources
- We have incorporated responsible agricultural practices.
- We have sourced RSPO mass-balanced certified palm oil.
- We also explored futuristic technologies (hydroponics) in order to enhance long-term sustainability.
- We advocate drip irrigation across resource providers to minimize water consumption.
- We encouraged crop rotation to protect the freshness of the soil.
- We only use UTZ-certified coffee beans (UTZ is one of the largest programs and labels for sustainable coffee and cocoa farming in the world).
Poultry and fish
- Westlife has implemented an effective animal welfare policy.
- We operate with audited farms for animal health and welfare.
- We do not administer hormones to animals and only use vegetarian feed.
- We have strengthened our international best practices around biosecurity.
- We have also sourced Marine Stewardship Council (MSC)-certified fish.
Bio-diesel
- We reuse cooking oil as per guidelines and have pioneered the logistical use of converted biodiesel.
- Following McDonald’s green initiatives of sourcing and utilizing resources, we have achieved some pleasing numbers from 2021–2022.
- 91,52,000 units of electricity saved
- 7,505 tons of CO2 saved
- 2600 LPG gas cylinders saved
- 150 tons of CO2 were saved
- 1,72,20,000 liters of water were saved
As amazing as these are, Westlife and McDonald’s will continue to strive to make efforts towards conservation, sustainability, and reducing our carbon footprint.
This Earth Day, drop by a McDonald’s near you with the knowledge that this place cares deeply for you and your planet. Even when we make home deliveries, we take necessary precautions and measures. So feel free to order in from the McDelivery® app or the McDelivery® website. For offers and deals as awesome as McDonald’s eco friendly practices and McDonald’s green initiatives, download the McDonald’s app.
