Energy costs have been increasing 6 to 8 percent per year. So how do you save money and still give quality service to your customers? Take a real good comprehensive look at all of the energy-using equipment in your facility and then see where you can reduce your energy costs. ~Lights in the storeroom, walk in coolers and freezers do not need to be on at all times. If the room is not occupied shut the lights off. ~Change the incandescent bulbs to energy star qualified compact fluorescent lamps (cfl). Look for the bulbs with the lowest possible start temperature. These bulbs can lower heat output by 75% over standard bulbs! If each of the 945,000 restaurants in the United States replaced only one incandescent bulb with a cfl bulb more than 630 million pounds of co2 emissions can be avoided each year! ~Add strip doors to your walk in coolers and freezers and make sure the doors close completely. Want to learn more? Go to conserve.restaurant.org