Dining green is not just for vegetarian hippies.
San Diego’s certified green establishments serve a range of menu items, from cocktails to seafood, steak, pizza, enchiladas and lattes. The Green Restaurant Association (GRA), which aids eateries in reducing their impact on the environment, even solicits fast food restaurants because their core philosophy is that any business can implement small, consistent changes for a better business and planet.
Less a regulator and more a tool for well-intentioned restaurants, the GRA facilitates the green process by counseling clients on feasible improvements, connecting them with distributors of green products and coaching them on future goals.
GRA Executive Director Michael Oshman, though, is more interested in recruiting decidedly un-green restaurants than those who have already heard his message.
“We are all about not preaching to the converted,” Oshman said. “We are wanting to move this whole industry.”
The restaurant industry comprises 10 percent of the nation’s economy. It is also is the largest consumer of electricity in the retail sector. These numbers speak volumes to Oshman, who founded the GRA 15 years ago in San Diego. GRA headquarters are now located in Boston and Oshman has his sights set on contracting large chains to set a more public example.
“San Diego restaurants have been leaders,” he said of the local reception that created requisite momentum for a national campaign. “The restaurants that have been part of the program in San Diego can be proud of setting a national precedent.”
Currently, the GRA has 88 members in 20 states, including America’s largest privately held coffee chain, the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf. Oshman has also been asked to give a speech at the National Restaurant Show this year, the largest of its kind.
The requirements are reasonable and all restaurants are encouraged to participate, regardless of how environmentally unfriendly they may be at the time. Oshman is all about baby steps away from waste and toward conservation, in any capacity.
“We don’t care where they are [in terms of green practices],” he said. “If a [restaurant] is willing to make four steps per year, that’s an incredible environmental improvement.”
To acquire the GRA endorsement, businesses must sign a contract, replace all polystyrene foam products, recycle everything accepted by local waste collection companies, implement one step after signing the contract and commit to completing four additional steps each year thereafter. In turn, members receive a support system to help them along with their goals, including environmental consulting, marketing, public relations and educational services.
The program is flexible and offers hundreds of options from which business owners can customize a plan. GRA does not dictate which steps a member completes, although consultants do help businesses match small and profitable changes with larger, more costly endeavors for maximum savings.
The GRA has not yet reached a point where there is nothing left to do for a business, Oshman said. There are always more steps, even for vegan, organic, solar-powered members, such as Kung Foods downtown.
Frequently, Oshman appeals to the industry’s frugality when selling the GRA, not its social conscience. He knows that being environmentally friendly must make economic sense or his pitch will not resonate with the majority of business owners.
“We’ve been very careful from the beginning of not falling into the trap of associating these important issues with other issues,” Oshman said. “It’s about clean air, it’s about efficiency, and at the end of the day, we don’t care what the motivation of the restaurant is. We care about the restaurant making the four changes and we are front and center to help them do so.”
While Oshman prefers to emphasize the economic benefits of going green, it seems that the underlying message of conservation and stewardship is what most appeals to San Diego’s GRA members. In fact, the program itself is still largely unknown in San Diego, even by customers who frequent green restaurants.
“[Our guests] are really not aware of it and we don’t promote it particularly,” said George Hauer, owner of George’s at the Cove in La Jolla. “It’s something that we do for ourselves. It’s not a marketing story for us.”
Before joining the GRA, George’s at the Cove already recycled glass and plastic, and served sustainable food, free of hormones. Since becoming certified green four years ago, George’s has added recycled paper products, light timers, new exhaust systems, more efficient compressors and water-saving devices.
Hauer is not aware if the program saves him money.
“It really isn’t relevant to me,” he said. “We come back to our core beliefs that we want to do things that make sense environmentally and if it does cost a little money, that’s fine.”
Hauer, like many green restaurant owners, joined GRA because its ethic fit his mindset. Region, located downtown, serves farm fresh cuisine and has long strived to incorporate organic, sustainable, local foods from San Diego’s farms, as well as naturally raised meats and seafood. When co-owners Michael Stebner and Allyson Cowell happened upon the program, it appealed to them because of values already well established at Region.
Currently, Region recycles everything they can through the city and gives food waste to Milpa Organica in Escondido to be composted. The remaining trash is 15 to 20 percent of its previous volume. Upcoming steps include an energy audit, which Stebner hopes will translate to monetary savings.
“We haven’t gotten to lower [costs] yet,” he said, adding that the city charges $100 each month to pick up Region’s recycling. “We do it because we want to do it.”
Stebner attributes the GRA with providing the resources necessary for his business to grow greener, a challenge that becomes larger each year.
“To buy organic flour, for instance, is very hard to do through our normal grocer companies,” Stebner said. “The GRA has helped us find the companies that sell this stuff because they are few and far between.”
Region must search outside of their usual purveyors to find biodegradable oven cleaner and soy-based candles, which can be a drawback. The green restaurant has accounts with as many as 60 suppliers, whereas normal restaurants might use six or less.
Marcos Mouet, owner of Ranchos Cocina in Ocean Beach agrees that as the green market expands, prices will drop.
“If more people join the effort, it will become more affordable,” Mouet said.
Ranchos became a GRA member nearly a decade ago after Oshman approached Mouet.
Nick Zanoni, owner of Thrusters Lounge in Pacific Beach, also got involved with the GRA through its director. Zanoni’s close connections with San Diego’s farming community led to a chance meeting with Oshman, who proposed creating the first certified green cocktail lounge in San Diego.
“All of our green aspects are behind the scenes,” Zanoni said. “[Going green] wasn’t for publicity. That’s how I chose to run my business.”
Thrusters does not serve food, so Zanoni has focused on conservation by adding motion sensor lights, sinks and hand dryers; recycled, non-bleached napkins and paper towels; biodegradable cleaning products; organic wines and beer; and a recycling program for cans and bottles.
Zanoni, like Stebner and Hauer, was motivated by personal beliefs. And while Oshman contends that the GRA is a one-size-fits-all program, it appears for now that it has caught on among business owners who need little convincing.
“It’s a personal choice. It’s not making me any money,” Zanoni said. “It’s the only way I could feel responsible promoting my business.”
Other San Diego green restaurants include Croce’s Restaurant and Bar downtown, Woodstock’s Pizza on El Cajon Boulevard and various Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf locations throughout the city. For more information on the program and participating businesses, visit www.dinegreen.com or call (858) 452-7378.