Sustainability
Sustainable food comes from more than just compostable containers and recycling.
Big Wheel Burger was founded on the idea that FAST food didn’t have to mean JUNK food. We’ve put thought into every step, from what we serve our customers, to how we run our shops and how we impact the environment and local communities.
Carbon Neutral From the Start
Big Wheel Burger is proud to be Canada’s first carbon neutral fast food restaurant, and has been since we open in 2011. We have been measuring our greenhouse gas emissions with Synergy. What we cannot reduce, we offset with Ostrom Climate Solutions. Their offset projects are third-party verified to ensure that the reductions are real, additional, and permanent. We have achieved the Offsetters Carbon Neutral Company 2022 status by supporting The Great Bear Forest Carbon Project. Along with the climate benefits it provides, it supports the First Nations communities of the Great Bear Rainforest. We’re proud to do business while taking action on climate change.
100% Compostable Packaging
Our customer area is 100% trash free since all of our packaging is completely compostable. Composting keeps our landfills from piling up and prevents unnecessary methane, a greenhouse gas, from being released into our environment.
We divert a minimum of 98% of our waste, recycling soft plastics, cartons, styrofoam and other items that are typically thrown out.
We print your receipt on EcoChit paper (phenol free, 100% recyclable and responsibly sourced paper).
What we cannot reduce, we offset with Ostrom Climate Solutions.
Soil to Feed our FED Garden
All of those wrappers, plates and food scraps are turned into high-quality compost for our FED garden. We partner with Food Eco District (FED), a non-profit organization that works with local restaurants that are committed to reducing their impact on their environment. With their help we have developed a FED Garden!
FED Gardens Growing Edible Plants
The compost created from diverting our restaurants’ waste is turned into high-quality compost for our community gardens. These gardens provide green space, offset carbon emissions and even get used in the kitchen!
Fridges to fryers
Our kitchens are furnished with high-efficiency appliances, from our fridges to our fryers. Not to mention the used oil from our restaurants is converted into biodiesel.
Biodiesel Van
Catch our cargo van running errands all over Victoria, fuelled using our own homemade biodiesel.
Waste Management
- All packaging materials are 100% compostable
- Trash free customer area = No landfill waste
- Less than 1% of waste ends up in landfill
Emissions Management
- Canada’s first carbon neutral fast food restaurant
- Through composting and recycling programs we avoided 74 tonnes of carbon in our first year of operation alone!
- We offset any remaining carbon emissions by investing projects that have real and measurable emissions reduction
Community Engagement
- Big Wheel Burger staff are trained about restaurant sustainability
- We work with Synergy to audit our practices
- We partner with FED Society, an initiative to increase food sustainability awareness
Restaurant Design
- We furnish our kitchen with Energy Star appliances, efficient fryers and dishwashers to keep energy consumption to a minimum
- We use recycled or salvaged materials wherever possible in our customer area
- From the heaters to lighting, sustainability and the environment are taken into consideration every step of the way