The Green Restaurant Association
by Alice Martinez
n every city there are local gas, water, and electric
companies, a Chamber of Commerce, a Health Department, A Restaurant Association,
a big local newspaper, trash pick-up, and landfills.... But there is something
unique that exists only in San Diego: The Green Restaurant Association (GRA).
GRA was created in 1993 to help the restaurant
industry minimize its negative environmental impact. The Green Restaurant
Association helps individual restaurants and chains go through a 12-step
process to achieve specific goals [see sidebar]. GRA founder Michael Oshman
educates the owners and employees about cost effective, consumer-pleasing
alternatives to needless waste and the use of toxic virgin products.
A restaurant is a complex business, with many
suppliers and service providers, each with their own environmental impact.
Oshman started this program to pull together all these different aspects
to form a healthier whole. For example, he will match a restaurant up with
the recycler who will service them the best, or schedule a meeting between
a manufacturer which is producing a good product and a local distributor.
And, provide the vital service of matching up customers with restaurants
that reflect their environmental values.
The savings for the restaurants are substantial.
One restaurant saves about $2,000 a year just from reduced trash costs due
to increased recycling. The environment wins big, too. For example, for
every ton of the 100 percent post-consumer waste napkins, paper towels,
toilet paper and take-out boxes used in place of of their virgin counterparts,
17 trees are left standing, 7,000 gallons of water are conserved, 4,100
kwh of energy are saved, 60 pounds of pollution is kept from fouling our
air, and 3 cubic yards of landfill are saved.
In the GRA's 3 years, many new products have
arrived in the market due to strong demand from environmentally responsible
restaurant customers. In 1993, there were no commercially available take-out
containers made from recycled material. Now, there are two companies producing
take-out boxes made from post consumer recycled content, some of which are
also chlorine bleach-free. Also available are forks, knives and spoons made
from processed corn starch that functioning exactly the same as regular
disposable plastic utensils. And, responsible servers can purchase napkins,
paper towels and toilet paper from 100 percent post consumer recycled material,
also completely chlorine bleach-free.
Michael sees GRA on the leading edge of a new
economic force. "Many environmentalists have been very committed to
boycotting certain products and businesses," he states. "The next
stage of the environmental movement is an evolution from the boycott stage
to the 'propott stage,' leading the economic community rather than reacting
to it.
"So far, thousands of people have chosen
not to patronize certain products and businesses; sometimes those businesses
have gotten the message and changed their practices.
"We have been in the stage of 'preferring
to go to an environmentally responsible business.' This next stage is one
of commitment, for when consumers make the commitment to only go to environmentally
responsible businesses, the other businesses will follow."
To power jump-start this movement, GRA is looking
for 100 individuals - Green Pillars that will put their money where
there committment is by pledging, for one year, to only go to Green Restaurants
that use no Styrofoam and are committed to the GRA's 12 steps. This group,
equal to $200,000 a year in restaurant revenue, is enough to induce additional
restaurants sit up and take notice.
"Change happens when one makes a commitment.
The world is ready for real change. The world needs 100 Green Pillars,"
says Oshman. "Those who can honestly make the commitment should step
forward."
Our environmental problems have spun out of
control due to our unconscious consumer choices; now we have the choice
to weave together a healthier world by making the right choices.
To find the Green Restaurants near you, call
the Green Restaurant Referral Service at 490-9695 ext 2. To find out more
about becoming become a Green Pillar, call the Green Restaurant Association
office at 287-4261.
