Diners sneakily slipped climate change and LGBTQ-themed “donations” onto their bills FS
In what can only be described as a new low in the push to guilt-trip everyday citizens into funding woke causes, a London restaurant is facing backlash for sneakily slipping climate change and LGBTQ-themed “donations” onto diners’ bills—without clearly notifying them.
One diner at The Pig and Butcher in Islington took to Reddit to share their experience after noticing a baffling £1.23 “Carbon Free” surcharge quietly added to their total. Their full bill, which included two beef dinners, wine, bread, and dessert, came with the mysterious and optional “carbon-free dining” charge—essentially a climate tax for having the audacity to enjoy a hot meal.
The receipt quickly went viral online, with Londoners and others nationwide slamming the charge as “sneaky,” “stupid,” and even a “scam.” “I already got used to the service charge, but carbon-free dining? That’s something new,” the baffled customer wrote.
The “Carbon-Free Dining” initiative was quietly introduced in late 2023 to “offset the environmental impact of meals”—a mission that sounds noble until you realise it’s customers footing the bill for an ideological crusade they never signed up for.
Just months ago, Mallow, a vegan restaurant in Borough Market, was caught charging diners an extra 50p for something called a “Diversity Role Models donation.” That money goes to an LGBTQ+ charity promoting anti-bullying campaigns in UK schools. But even well-meaning causes are raising eyebrows when quietly attached to food bills.
While businesses argue these are “optional contributions”, critics say the trend is a disturbing sign of how far restaurants—and many corporations—are willing to go to outsource social and ideological responsibility onto unsuspecting customers, all in the name of “progress.”
