From the food we sell to the buildings in which our iconic brand operates, our business affects the environment. In addition to maintaining compliance with applicable laws and regulations, our teams work diligently to ensure that our suppliers also maintain compliance with applicable laws and regulations. Our Concern for Animals
We believe in and support efforts within and outside of our industry to improve the welfare of farm animals. We also rely on experts in the field, such as Dr. Jeffrey Armstrong of the Michigan State University College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, to provide scientific guidance on animal welfare issues. IHOP accounts for only a small fraction of the animal-based products purchased each year in the U.S., making our ability to impact industry-wide practices somewhat limited. Regardless, we will continue to explore opportunities to improve the treatment of farm animals within the context of our business and the industry. The Environment
We’re regularly looking for new ways to reduce our impact on the environment through improvements in how we supply, design, build and maintain our restaurants. Our IHOP Restaurant Support Center in Glendale, California is housed in a LEED Certified building. We gain valuable learning through various pilot programs and tests and will be expanding our learning in the coming years to many of our IHOP restaurants through a series of Green initiatives. Not all restaurants will be able to take advantage of every initiative, but we’re excited about this important and broad-reaching step. 2010 Green Initiatives* - IHOP - Automatic plumbing fixtures
- Faucets that reduce water usage
- Waterless urinals and/or very low flow (VLF) fixtures
- Energy saving products
- devices that automatically turn off lights,
- Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning controls that coordinate with kitchen equipment to maximize efficiency
- Low volatile organic compounds (VOC) interior paint
- Solar reflective windows
- Greener cleaning products
- Energy generated from renewable sources like wind, solar and geothermal
*Not all IHOP restaurants will implement all items Packaging
We source a large amount of paper and plastic goods for our restaurants. In choosing vendors, we not only consider quality and price, but we are also beginning to look at other factors including the amount of recycled content, the types of bleaches and/or dyes used, the types of inks and whether sustainable forestry and production practices were included. By working with vendors who share our interest in and commitment to good practices, we hope to--over time--improve the environmental attributes of the goods we purchase. We have removed 95% of all polystyrene packaging products used in our "to go" orders. We have replaced it with 100% recyclable packaging, allowing safe and clean transport, as well as reducing our impact on the local landfills. We are currently working on the final products that will make us 100% polystyrene free. Energy Consumption
We continue to work to reduce the energy consumption in our restaurants and at our restaurant support center. For example, nearly all offices in our in non-restaurant facilities have motion-activated light switches that automatically lower or turn off the lights if no movement is detected after a period of time. Many of our restaurants are open late at night or 24 hours so we are mindful about eliminating lighting for security reasons. However, we have been aggressive about replacing traditional lighting with compact florescent lighting wherever possible. Waste and Recycling
A number of our environmental programs focus on reducing waste generated by our operations. We are always looking for ways to eliminate, reuse or recycle potential waste. One example is the regular recycling of used cooking oil at most of our restaurants.
|
