California restaurants add optional 1% surcharge to help combat climate change

The Restore California Renewable Restaurant program will give diners the opportunity to pay the voluntary fee as an addition to their check, CNN reported.

The money will go to a public fund run by the California Air Resources Board that helps farmers who use sustainable practices to reduce carbon emissions. The surcharges will pay farmers $10 per ton of carbon removed from the atmosphere.

The initiative, which launched Tuesday, is open to every restaurant to in the state and several have already jumped on board, according to CNN.

The fee is optional for customers to pay. Anthony Myint, one of the initiative’s organizers and a restauranteur, told CNN that if every customer at a certain restaurant paid the surcharge, the money would make the establishment carbon neutral.