2Over-training. - Natural Awakenings Magazine Charlotte

consciouseating
Eating Out?
EAT GREEN
Eco-Friendly Restaurants Serve Up Sustainability
by Sandra Murphy
Eating green isn’t limited to salads.
It means that sustainable thinking
goes into a meal at every stage,
from the use of local ingredients and
energy savings to recycling and composting
waste. Delicious food, served
thoughtfully, is the goal of today’s environmentally
conscious restaurant. Look
first to local mom-and-pop eateries that
are doing it right, but there are some
chains worth considering, as well.
With more than 25 million cups
of wake-up java sold each day, coffee
shops have a perfect opportunity to
start a good day by example. Californiabased
Green Café Network consults
with owners and baristas to reduce
the environmental impact of member
shops. Efficient equipment, biodegradable
cups and renewable products for
flooring and tables make the coffee
house experience more sustainable,
especially when buyers select shadegrown,
organic, free-trade beans.
Starbucks Corporation has taken it
all a step further by designing a pre-certified
Leadership in Energy and Environmental
Design (LEED) prototype store.
It features recycled floor tiles, reduced
lighting and lower water usage and air
conditioning set three degrees higher
than usual.
22 Greater Charlotte AwakeningCharlotte.com
Garden Fresh Restaurant
Corp., the parent company of
Souplantation & Sweet Tomatoes
restaurants, estimates that its
recycling and composting programs
annually save:
n 2,129,400 pounds of
waste paper
n 7,452,900 gallons of water
n 3,194,100 cubic yards of
landfill space
n 4,365,270 kilowatts
of energy
Souplantation & Sweet Tomatoes
offers fresh-tossed salads, made-fromscratch
soups and hot or cold desserts
in their 120 restaurants, where vegan,
vegetarian and gluten-free items are
offered daily. Reclaimed recyclables
come back as takeout containers,
towels and napkins. Materials sent out
for recycling include glass, paper, aluminum
and cardboard. Even garbage
is given a new role as part of a chainwide
composting program. Tankless
water heaters are in while traditional
systems are out and cleaning products
are all Green Seal certified.
At Chipotle Mexican Grill, “It’s not
just a burrito, it’s a foil-wrapped, handcrafted,
local farm-supporting, food
culture-changing cylinder of deliciousness,”
states the company’s website. In
2010, Chipotle served about 5 million
pounds of local farm produce through
its 1,000 mostly North American stores.
The company-wide 2011 goal is 10
million pounds.
Inside those burritos, 40 percent
of the beans are certified organic,
resulting in 140,000 fewer pounds
of pesticide added to the soil. The
romaine lettuce, bell peppers, jalapeño,
red onions, oregano and tomatoes
come from family-owned farms.