I met some friends for lunch at the farmers’ market’s N.C. Seafood Restaurant last week. My friends were running late so I sat down with my $8 plate of grouper and people-watched while I ate.
I started noticing that diners were often finishing their meals and leaving large stacks of unused napkins, some of which were an inch thick. If the diners didn’t throw these out themselves, the bus staff would later come along and pitch them all into the trash. It seemed pretty wasteful.
I then thought about the only place napkins are available in the restaurant: the condiment stand where diners also get their plasticware. When a diner picks out what she needs for her meal, she knows in advance how many knives, forks, or spoons she’s likely to need. What she doesn’t know in advance is how many napkins she might need, especially for a greasy seafood meal. So with napkins kept away from the tables, the natural inclination is for her to grab more napkins than she’ll need – to avoid having to get up again.
By not having a napkin dispenser at every table (where just enough napkins could be dispensed), the restaurant manager winds up paying for twice as many napkins as he needs. That equates to more cost, more waste, and unnecessary work for the bus staff.
I thought about pointing this out to the restaurant manager but the food was so filling that all I felt like doing was taking a nap, so I opted to wait until another time.
I am so guilty of this. When I am somewhere where the napkins are not at the table, I take a huge stack.
well, although I don’t know how you came up with the twice number I will make a comment on how to save.
It’s easy….just like in Europe (God, I hate making that comparison) don’t leave napkin dispensers out for the public. Have the staff provide a couple of napkins and then if the people need more they go back up and ask for another. It’s that simple, really.
Not a bad idea, Scott. Quite frankly, some of the patrons could use the exercise!