In this blog we’ve focused on how to make homes more green, but what about activities outside the home? Take going out to eat for example. It is something nice that we all like to do on occasion, but restaurants can have a huge carbon footprint. Even if you order a vegetarian meal and make eco-conscious decisions inside the restaurant, the restaurant’s practices and policies might be damaging to the environment and public health. By eating at such a restaurant, you are indirectly supporting harmful practices.
Fortunately the Green Restaurant Association helps shed light on which restaurants engage in environmentally-minded practices. The Green Restaurant Association (http://www.dinegreen.com) educates restaurants, consumers, distributors, and manufacturers on how to go green. In the consumer section of the website they provide a tool that allows people to search for certified green restaurants in their area. I was actually surprised at how few restaurants in my neighborhood are making the effort to be recognized by the Green Restaurant Association. Since I really want to support the restaurants that ARE taking the right steps, the list given to me by the DineGreen.com tool is very helpful.
There are three types of certifications given by the Green Restaurant Association: Restaurants, Events, and Sustainabuild. Sustainabuild is for restaurants that are undergoing renovations. The generic Restaurant category includes a wide array of criteria that businesses are judged on, including: Water Efficiency, Waste Reduction & Recycling, Sustainable Furnishings & Building Materials, Sustainable Food, Energy, Disposables, and Chemical & Pollution Reduction. A points system is assigned to each category and in order to be certified, a restaurant must achieve at least 100 points. To get the highest score, or “4 Stars”, a restaurant must achieve at least 300 points.
The Green Restaurant Association also recognizes a business’ year-to-year improvement in a program they call “Continual Change”. The program requires that, to maintain their certification, restaurants must improve and gain more points on their scorecard each year. This means that the longer a venue has been certified, the greener it is. So look for the Green Restaurant Association Certification symbol next time you go out to eat and help support businesses that are striving to continually make positive changes for our environment!
