For consumers wanting to see how well their local restaurant is doing in its sustainability efforts, there is JYBE, a first-of-its-kind web app to aggregate restaurant ratings based on their use of eco-friendly takeout and delivery packaging.
It launched last year in Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay area and has continued to expand with a mission to “help solve the single-use plastic crisis in the restaurant industry,” the brand said. It has since expanded to Portland, Seattle, Denver, and Boulder according to its website. They currently have more than 4,800 restaurant reviews from nearly 3,000 unique restaurants and counting.
Jybe’s app takes user reviews to rate restaurants’ use of packaging material based on a “Turtle score,” – a scoring system that prioritizes specific sustainable materials such as paper, aluminum, glass, and renewables such as bamboo and birch.
“The restaurant industry in the era of the global pandemic looks completely different, as restaurants turn to takeout and delivery to maintain business and serve customers. With that comes an increase in takeout packaging,” said Alison Diamond, Co-Founder and CEO, JYBE.
“We’re launching an app that allows users to find restaurants using sustainable packaging with the ability to promote the transition to eco-friendly products through consumer demand. The goal is to educate diners and restaurants alike, and lead a cultural shift on par with reusable supermarket shopping bags or the elimination of plastic straws.”
Available at app.gojybe.com via mobile device, JYBE offers user reviews and recommendations on sustainable restaurants actively making Earth-friendly packaging choices while also supporting restaurants and food industry professionals to integrate more sustainable packaging practices into their businesses.
In an interview with Packaging Digest, Diamond said:
“A figure we really love sharing is that people don’t just come to our app and leave, they spend quite a lot of time looking around at specific restaurants and checking out our quick facts and blog links. Our average session duration is just under 4 minutes which is a sure sign that people care and are invested in doing the right thing.”
