Becoming a Green Restaurant is Rewarding and Saves Money

For Zatar's chefs/owners, Waiel and Kelly Majid, the preparation of a delicious dish begins with the planting of a seed. They grow over a half acre of vegetables, fruits and herbs which help supply this Mediterranean restaurant's kitchen. Garden and locally grown, organic ingredients ensure freshness and superior quality, naturally resulting in tastier food!

The Majids also keep Zatar's food waste to a minimum by composting all raw kitchen scraps for the garden and feeding cooked kitchen scraps to their chickens and worm bin. Zatar's garden has been featured in Organic Gardening Magazine.

How can restaurants "green" their businesses? First bring their operations into compliance with all environmental regulations, then adopt pollution prevention and resource conservation practices. The program checklists offer a variety of options for meeting program standards. Here are some examples of what you can do.

Top Ten Green Restaurant Practices

Conserve Energy and Water

1. Use low flow pre-rinse spray nozzles at the dish machine. (Your water company may provide free low flow pre-rinse nozzles.)

2. Use Energy Star compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) instead of incandescent bulbs in store-rooms, break rooms, offices, wall sconces, kitchen exhaust hoods and walk-in refrigerators.

3. Use ultra low-flow toilets and flow restrictors on restroom faucets.

Reduce, reuse, recycle

4. Buy products in returnable, reusable or recyclable containers.

5. Recycle food*, cardboard, paper, glass, metal and plastics. (*food waste, along with waxed cardboard, paper napkins, paper beverage cartons and wooden crates can be picked up for off-site composting in many parts of the Bay Area.)

6. Buy recycled-content paper products whenever possible, including hand towels, napkins, office and food service uses.

7. Use take-out containers that can be composted (paper) or recycled (#1 and #2 plastics, aluminum) instead of styrofoam.

Pollution Prevention

8. Properly maintain grease traps and kitchen hoods to prevent overflows and emissions to the sewer and storm drain systems.

9. Keep outdoor waste storage, parking and sidewalks free of litter, grease spills and other potential pollutants. Use sweeping and spot cleaning for most clean ups. If washing is needed, use a cleaning method that keeps cleaning water out of storm drains.

10. Use organically or sustainably produced foods in the kitchen.

Contact your county coordinator for more information about becoming "green" in your county.

gra 12/21/07