Green Initiative

We all can do a little bit to help the environment. Carino’s is no exception. We’re taking steps to make our restaurants more environmentally friendly. While these certainly are not revolutionary, we believe it’s important to reduce our footprint a little at a time.

Cool Roof Program

We are outfitting our restaurants with “Cool Roofs” as older roofs need replacing. A cool roof contains a high solar reflectance, which helps reflect sunlight and heat away from the roof of the building. By reducing the heat coming in, cooling the restaurant requires less energy. Cool roofs main benefits include:

• Reduced energy use: A cool roof transfers less heat to the building below, so the building stays cooler and uses less energy for air conditioning.
  
• Reduced air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions: By lowering energy use, cool roofs decrease the production of associated air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.

More information on cool roofs can be found at epa.gov

Wind Energy

30 of our Texas restaurants receive a portion of their power through wind energy.

Wind energy is generated in a similar fashion to old fashioned windmills. Today’s wind machines use blades to collect the wind’s kinetic energy. Windmills work because they slow down the speed of the wind. The wind flows over the airfoil shaped blades causing lift, like the effect on airplane wings, causing them to turn. The blades are connected to a drive shaft that turns an electric generator to produce electricity. In 2006, wind machines in the United States generated enough to serve more than 2.4 million households.

By using the renewable energy resources from our supplier Green Mountain Energy, it's estimated that the emissions that the restaurants emissions avoided each month is the equivalent to over a quarter million automobile miles not driven.

Carino’s is a member of the EPA Green Power Partnership. More information on the Wind Energy and other types of renewable sources of energy can be found at http://www.epa.gov/greenpower/index.htm.

Energy Efficient Light Bulbs

Where possible, Carino’s restaurants are changing our outside lighting to energy efficient light bulbs. These are similar to compact fluorescent bulbs that are becoming increasing common in homes.

On average, an ENERGY STAR qualified compact fluorescent light bulb (CFL) uses 75 percent less energy and lasts about 10 times longer than an incandescent bulb.

More information on energy efficient light bulbs can be found at energystar.gov

Energy Star Rated Air Conditioning Units

Many of our restaurants are outfitted with Energy Star rated air conditioning units.

ENERGY STAR qualified central air conditioners have a higher seasonal efficiency rating (SEER) than standard models, which makes them about 14% more efficient than standard models.

More information on Energy Star ratings can be found at energystar.gov

Cooking Oil Recycle Program

Most Carino’s restaurants recycle the cooking oil used to make so many of your favorite dishes. We’re continuing to add as many restaurants where a recycling program is available.

A portion of our cooking oil is used to create Biodiesel. Biodiesel is cleaner-burning than petroleum diesel. It reduces the emission of harmful air pollutants-in particular asthma-causing soot. Furthermore, when used cooking oil is recycled to produce biodiesel, billions of gallons of waste grease can be diverted from landfills and municipal water pipes, improving the quality of both air and water.

More information on Biodiesel can be found at epa.gov

Recycled Paper Napkins

Most Carino’s restaurants are replacing our linen napkins with 100% recycled paper napkins. Using recycled paper napkins provides a greater environmental benefit than using linen. With paper napkins, Carino’s is reducing the amount of water consumed to wash the napkins as well as the energy to wash and dry linen napkins. By using recycled paper napkins, Carino’s can save over 20,000 gallons of water used per year.