CM/Spotlight: sustainability case studies Activeion Cleaning Solutions LLC How Taranta Restaurant Is Part Of The Solution Armed with ionized water, the staff at Taranta Restaurant is performing safe, non-toxic cleaning. T “The Activeion ionator EXP™ is probably one of the most revolutionary, eco-friend-ly cleaning products I have ever pur-chased. It is not a cheap product, it goes for about $300; but, adding all the clean-ing products we buy and consume, the cost indicates an immediate return on the investment,” said Jose Duarte, chef and owner of Taranta Restaurant in Boston, which opened in July 2000. “And, there is also a whole environ-mental benefit behind using it — not only because it is not toxic, but because we are becoming more sustainable by not having to bring in more products that go through manufacture, packaging, trans-portation and all the energy used in the production process until it arrives at our restaurant,” he continues. Award-winning chef Jose Duarte is on a mission. His Boston-based restaurant, Taranta, is one of the few Certified Green Restaurants ® in the world — and he is on the cusp of a growing revolution of busi-ness owners who seek to drive down costs while being friendly to the environment. One of the ways Duarte was able to reduce costs, as well as reduce Taranta’s carbon footprint, was by incorporating Activeion technology into the daily oper-ating functions at the restaurant that won the 2008 City of Boston Green Business Award. Duarte first learned about Activeion products in the Green Restaurant Association’s newsletter, Green ® Restaurant News. He then purchased several Activeion devices and introduced the technology to his staff. Duarte says, “It took a little while to get them to understand the technology, so we did some cleaning tests with some dirty surfaces like walls that had kitchen grease attached. And, after using the Activeion product and seeing that it really worked, they called it ‘The Magic Water!’” The Taranta staff now uses the ionator EXP to clean a multitude of surfaces in the 2,800-square-foot restaurant, includ-ing glass, granite, stainless steel, ceram-ic tile, acrylic and finished wood, just to name a few. Duarte, who was able to replace sever-al chemical-based cleaners and sanitiz-ers with the ionator EXP, saw an immedi-ate return on his investment. He had been spending about $50 a month — roughly $600 a year — on glass cleaner alone and expects to be able to reap further economic and envi-ronmental benefits with the continued use of Activeion products. Duarte’s philosophy is simple: “I believe that being eco friendly is an easy choice that we all can make. It is a way of doing things a little different while not sacrificing the environment. We want people to know that we made changes to save money and to help the environment — besides the fact of creating great cus-tomer and employee loyalty.” One way Duarte lives his philosophy is by holding corporate cooking classes that showcase his eco efforts from serv-ing biodynamic, sustainably farmed wines to using people and planet-friend-ly cleaners like the ionator EXP. “I think many of us are going towards a sustainable future, trying to preserve it for our next generation,” Duarte con-cludes. CM Circle Product Information no. 151 This content was provided by Activeion Cleaning Solutions LLC as part of a paid advertisement. For more information, please contact Activeion at 1-866-950-4667 or www.activeion.com. 26 CM/Cleaning & Maintenance Management ® • June 2010
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