Everyone can make changes in his or her routine to help reduce carbon footprints, whether in his or her professional or personal life. This also applies to restaurant owners and employees. Here are six tips for restaurants to help reduce air pollution.

1. Buy Energy-efficient Equipment

There are many types of energy-efficient restaurant equipment and appliances you can choose from when you want to make the switch to more eco-friendly options. Many people choose to switch to energy-efficient equipment because they lower your electricity bills by using power more efficiently. This improved efficiency also means the appliances emissions will be much lower, reducing your contributions to air and atmospheric pollution.

2. Enter Farm-to-table and Yard-to-table Agreements

A great way to reduce your restaurant's overall carbon footprint, including air pollution, is to source as many of your ingredients locally as possible. The farm-to-table method involves entering agreements with local farmers to purchase their produce and other products. The yard-to-table is a similar concept where either the restaurant plants a dedicated garden or enters an agreement with people in the community who plant gardens and sources produce from these gardens. Using either or both of these methods reduces emissions produced by the industrial processing and subsequent transportation of ingredients.

3. Incorporate More Meatless Options

While transporting local produce can reduce emissions, this is a more effective strategy for fruits, vegetables and grains than it is for meat products. The industrial production of meat and other animal products, particularly beef, also produces large amounts of methane. Methane is one of the most potent greenhouse gases and lowering levels of it can be helpful in reducing air pollution. One way restaurants can contribute to this effort is by introducing more meatless options to their menus. You can add more vegan or vegetarian options to your menu, offer meat substitutes or incorporate meatless mondays, days when you only offer plant-based or meatless menu options.

4. Compost

Another large contributer to air pollution and other types of pollution is food waste. Food waste can occur for a variety of reasons, including people throwing away unfinished meals or food going bad before it can be used. When these food items are thrown away, they tend to end up in landfills and can contribute to greenhouse gas emissions. A good alternative to sending food waste to landfills is to compost your food waste instead. Not only does composting help reduce emissions and air pollution, but it also returns nutrients to the soil where the compost area is located.

5. Look for More Energy-efficient Ways To Ship Supplies

If you need to ship ingredients, supplies or appliances from outside your local area, you can still find ways to reduce your carbon footprint and the emissions associated with transportation and shipment. First, you should choose ground transportation, particularly rail, over air shipping. Ground transportation generally uses fuel more efficiently. Second, try to ship in bulk as much as possible to reduce the number of shipments required. This will also reduce the number of trucks, ships, trains or planes required to transport your supplies and thus the emissions they create. If you can't or don't need to bulk order, you may be able to place orders together with other businesses in your area.

6. Utilize Renewable Energy

Even if you can't currently switch to more energy-efficient appliances, you may be able to switch your energy supply from fossil fuels to a source of renewable energy. There are several options, including solar, wind and water power. Depending on where your restaurant or chain of restaurants is located, you may be able to take advantage of various incentives at the local, state or federal level. These incentives can increase the value of switching to renewable energy.

Make changes to your systems and processes in ways that make sense. Remember it's all right to take things slow and to not overhaul your entire restaurant. Make what changes you can within reason and do your research as you plan out what changes you want to make.