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Grumbling diners have been a little miffed over a seemingly new (but totally discretionary) fee on London restaurant bills of late.
According to Metro, a livid Reddit thread has seen a user sharing their receipt from Islington gastropub The Pig & Butcher, which contains an ‘Optional Carbon Free Dining’ fee of £1.23. ‘I kind of got desensitised to the service charge already, but carbon free dining? That’s something new,’ wrote user tauhou_ after posting the picture of their receipt.
The fee, which can be removed from the bill if the customer wishes, goes towards the very decent sounding GiftTrees - an environmental initiative which backs carbon neutrality and sustainability by ‘planting of life-saving trees in developing countries to offset the environmental impact of the meal and help lift 1 million people out of poverty’. The restaurant also works with the excellent StreetSmart, which raises money for homelessness charities via a similar method.
A representative from The Pig & Butcher told Metro: ‘This is optional and we explain this to customers. They can just ask to remove it. So far this calendar year our customers have donated £31,000 to GiftTrees and £9,211.75 to StreetSmart.’
StreetSmart was established in 1998 and has raised £13 million for homeless and vulnerable people across the UK. StreetSmart will always make diners aware of the £1 voluntary donation via a tablecard or reference on the menu.
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