10 Earth Day Restaurant Promotions & Specials to Celebrate the Planet

This Earth Day, show customers you care about the environment by implementing green dishes and Earth Day restaurant promotions to your menu. Learn how to attract more environmentally conscious people to your restaurant and help the planet long-term.

5 Earth Day Restaurant Promotions to Implement in 2023

10% off pickup orders if you bring your own containers

For customers who prefer to pick up their food themselves, create an exclusive promotion that rewards them for being environmentally friendly and bringing their own containers.

This will lower the number of takeaway containers you need to use, which is a great achievement, even if you’re using eco-friendly packaging.

Free coffee refills for patrons who have reusable mugs

In a similar vein, reward dine-in customers who like to hang out at your restaurant or coffee shop by allowing free refills if they bring their own coffee mug.

This will also incentivize them to spend more time at your place and order more things off the menu, leading to a higher check value.

Complimentary reusable travel mug with every order over $30

Encourage customers to be greener by providing them with the tools to do so. Offer a reusable travel mug to people who order from you on Earth Day and spend a considerable sum.

Using GloriaFood’s online ordering system, you can add the promotion at the top of your online menu, so customers can’t miss it. Here’s how easy it is to create a promotion using our system:

If you’d like to make the promotion stand out even more so customers won’t be able to resist adding more items to their card just to get the freebie, you can also highlight the promo. Watch this video to learn how:

Selling a reusable mug is also an excellent opportunity to promote your restaurant’s brand. You can add your logo to it, along with a cute Earth Day message.

That way, whenever customers use the mug, your restaurant will be top of mind. Who knows, their friends might even ask them where they got it and be on the lookout for your next Earth Day restaurant promotions.

Order a vegetarian burger and you get free fries and a soda

Earth Day restaurant deals can both raise awareness and foster customer loyalty. Give clients a great deal if they order a plant-based burger to limit meat consumption.

Sell a full menu for the price of a vegetarian burger and watch those orders come in. Use this as an opportunity to also promote your vegetarian options to people who might have never ordered them, not knowing what they were missing.

Free delivery if you order any item on the Earth Day menu

Do you have a lot of Earth Day food ideas you want to add to your menu? Then it might make more sense to create a special menu category dedicated to this day.

If you’re worried about having to update and reprint your menus, don’t be. Using our system, you can add new categories and dishes to your menu in minutes and make the changes live in seconds.

Check out this video to learn how easy it is to create an online menu from scratch:

And to convert that online menu into a dine-in menu with all of the same Earth Day restaurant promotions, all you need is a QR code that we can help generate for free. Learn how:

To market your Earth Day menu ideas, offer free delivery to everyone who wants to test them out at home.

5 Earth Day Restaurant Specials to Add to Your Menu

Locally sourced specials

Using locally-sourced ingredients in your menu is one of the best ways to make your restaurant more environmentally friendly. Not to mention seasonal menus are also more cost-effective for restaurants.

For Earth Day, add a couple of specials that are made up of only local ingredients. Don’t forget to label them as ‘locally sourced,’ ‘free range,’ or ‘organic’ to let people know.

Oil-free French fries

Air fryer French fries are a simple alternative to your usual fries that reduces the amount of oil you use.

They’re easy to make and tasty, and if they’re well-received, you can even consider making them part of your permanent menu.

Plant-based menu alternatives

Offer vegetarian or vegan alternatives to your regular menu items, such as a vegan burger or vegetarian lasagna to celebrate Earth Day and also cater to a larger audience with different dietary preferences.

If you’d like, you can also allow customers to build their own plant-based meals by adding toppings, extras, sides, and more to the dish they choose.

Here’s how to add choices and add-ons to your menu:

Green everything

It makes sense for Earth Day-themed food to be green, doesn’t it? Stick to that color palette by adding different green dishes to your menu, such as:

• Lemon garlic kale salad
• Cream of spinach soup
• Pesto pasta with green beans and potatoes
• Green pizza with basil and spinach
• Green pea guacamole

Earth Day cookies

Everyone deserves a sweet treat, even on Earth Day. Use green and blue to create Earth-colored cookies. You can also make them heart-shaped to spread the love.

More Earth Day Marketing Ideas for Your Restaurant

Celebrate Earth Day by going green

Besides adding Earth Day restaurant promotions and specials to your menu, you can also take other initiatives that will make your restaurant more sustainable.

For instance, you can:

• Buy energy-efficient equipment;
• Reduce water usage;
• Use eco-friendly cleaning products;
• Stock eco-friendly boxed water and drinks;
• Start composting;
• Use recyclable paper napkins and straws.

Sell reusable takeout bags

Have you ever considered selling restaurant merchandise as an extra income stream? You can create tote bags made of recycled material and branded with your restaurant logo.

Sell them as reusable takeout bags and encourage customers who purchase them to bring them whenever they order pickup.

Organize an Earth-friendly wine-tasting

Earth Day promotion ideas go beyond menus and special offers. Think even bigger and organize events that gather the community to support local suppliers and celebrate our planet.

For example, a wine-tasting event featuring only organic, locally produced wines will bring great publicity to both you and the producers.

Donate part or all of your profits to an environmental charity

Your Earth Day deals can make a tangible impact on the world. How? By donating part or all of your earnings that day to a charity that works to protect the environment.

Doing this won’t just make a real difference but also show existing and potential customers that you care about the world we live in.

Customers are always happy to support brands that care. In fact, 79% of consumers are willing to change their purchase preferences based on sustainability.

Extend Your Efforts Beyond Earth Day

While Earth Day restaurant promotions only make sense on the day, if you truly want your efforts to matter in the long run, do more every day.

With small steps such as replacing all your light bulbs with energy-efficient ones, you are closer to being a more responsible restaurant that customers will love to come back to over and over again.