As part of the experience of McDonald’s Reduce its contribution toGlobal warming andClimate crisis, The chain has opened a completely green branch in the city of Shropshire in the UK. The green branch of the fast food giant is made entirely of recycled equipment, the signs are made of used coffee beans, the insulation is made of sheep wool, and instead of electricity, wind turbines and solar panels provide the branch with its energy – so the branch’s carbon emissions are at zero.
Aside from meat, of course, an industry that is at the forefront of contributing factors to global warming, some say even more than transportation. Raising cattle requires a lot of resources, from the land on which it grazes, through the water resources, its necessary food to the energy resources needed for its transportation – which produces a large amount of greenhouse gases and waste.
But if you ignore the meat for a moment, it’s a big step for McDonald’s, as the building industry is also very polluting, and turning it green is a complex challenge. The chain’s green branch is part of a much more comprehensive plan to reduce its carbon footprint, presumably in response to investors’ demands to take action on the issue.
The green branch of McDonald’s, built in collaboration with the British Green Building Council, will serve as a prototype, and as an example will build the other green branches that the chain plans to establish as part of the green change it is adopting.