A New Level of Green
This week marks the 41st annual Earth Day, which is now celebrated by over one billion people in 192 countries around the world. That’s pretty humbling. Here at George’s we’re celebrating our own recent milestone in what has been a decade-long journey toward greater environmental sustainability for our business.
George’s is now a 3-Star Certified Green Restaurant® – one of only three in the San Diego region – as a result of adopting numerous green business practices as laid out by the Green Restaurant Association (GRA).
The restaurant industry represents 10 percent of the U.S. economy, so efforts to green these business operations have the potential to make a significant environmental impact. George’s first joined the GRA in 2001 and has since been participating in an aggressive program to institute at least five new “green” steps each year.
As a team, environmental responsibility has become a core part of our culture, and we’re incredibly proud of our accomplishments in this ongoing process. So, we’d like to share some of the steps we are taking in the kitchen, in the dining room and in the back office to make George’s yet another step greener.
To date we have earned 175.11 points on the GRA program, which includes dozens of significant, measurable actions in such categories as disposables, energy, food, pollution and chemical reduction, waste and water. Some of the highlights include:
- Our continued commitment to offering meat-free dining options, including the vegetarian/vegan menu at California Modern
- Emphasis on environmentally responsible food sourcing, including: local suppliers, as often as possible from within 100 miles of the restaurant; sustainable seafood listed on the Blue Ocean Institute or Monterey Bay Aquarium’s “Green” lists; Certified Organic food and beverage items; natural, vegetarian-fed, hormone/antibiotic-free meat
- Grease recycling through a partnership with Buster Bio-Fuels, which collects our used cooking grease and converts it into biodiesel
- No disposable water bottles served on-site (our still and sparkling water is filled by a local supplier in reusable George’s branded glass water bottles
- Energy-efficient equipment from refrigerators in the kitchens to ice machines in the bars to hand-dryers in the restrooms; we also use an HVAC energy management system, LED lighting, photocell sensors, occupancy sensors, equipment timers and programmable thermostat
- We use GreenSeal qualified cleaning products and a green certified pest control company, Clark Pest Control
- We use recycled, chlorine-free, post-consumer waste for paper products and take-out containers
- We recycle all of our cardboard; our staff breaks it down for vendors who pick it up and reuse it
- We also recycle all of our plastic, glass and aluminum waste, as well as our corks
Since earning our 3-star certification, we have already begun working toward our next goal. Some exciting new initiatives that are currently underway include:
- Posting stickers from www.thesecomefromtrees.com on all of our paper towel dispensers (with each consciousness-raising sticker, this environmental initiative aims to save 100 pounds of paper, or one tree, each year)
- Reusing the backs of our discarded menus for coasters, allowing us to stop using cocktail napkins
- Saving of wine bottles to be remade into water glasses for California Modern
Continuing to raise the bar with environmental changes such as these is not always simple, and some decisions certainly cost us more. However, as we look out at our majestic Pacific each day, we’d like to think our planet thanks us for it. We hope you appreciate the effort as well.
