No showing of the green? Seriously??

Proponents of the green movement probably relished yesterday’s disclosure that Carl’s Jr. had opened its first eco-friendly restaurant, a prototype studded with such advances as a rain-capture system, a high-tech smoke eater, and even a perch for a local hawk. But they likely missed today’s more significant announcement, from 26-unit Granite City Food & Brewery.

The regional brewpub chain trumpeted the opening of its latest outlet with all the reserve of a parent whose second grader just made the honor roll. “Highly detailed” and “contemporary décor” that make the place veritably buzz! A “fun and family-friendly dining atmosphere,” apparently for those who’d rather not vibrate during dinner!! Set in Carmel, IN, “one of the top ten places to live in the Midwest,” with “excellent schools, safe neighborhoods, an award-winning public library and an expanded park system” !!!

The description went on and on—without a mention of a single green feature. No LED lights in the parking lot. No motion-sensor-based light switches in the bathroom. No high-efficiency equipment in the kitchen, or flooring recycled from waste materials. Heck, not even a low-flow pre-rinse valve at the dish station, which would’ve set the facility back about $80.

How can a chain open a restaurant today that doesn’t incorporate at least the most fundamental devices and processes for conserving energy and water and cutting waste?

I’m picking on Granite, but it’s no different than almost every other restaurant chain that recently announced the opening of a new branch, from Chick-fil-A to Max & Erma’s.

Perhaps those restaurants really have green touches. If so, and the operator or franchisor merely isn’t crowing about it in their announcements, a public relations boon is being squandered. If not, they’re ignoring the genetic engineering that’s underway in the industry. A green gene is fast becoming a part of restaurants’ DNA. To ignore that is to risk being a freak, and having to fix the problem down the road with a potentially costly rehab.

Drinking for a healthier planet. That's my story.

I’m pleased to report you can now drink and save the planet, too. As a restaurateur revealed during the National Restaurant Association’s webinar this afternoon on ways of being more ecologically minded in a bleeding-out economy, there are such things as “green drinks.”

“We devised a green drink menu,” explained Laura Wood Hber of Croc’s 19th Street Bistro in Virginia Beach. “We have organic beer, organic wine, organic vodka, organic nectors. We have a Sugar Plum Martini where we use organic sugar on the rim.”

Pardon me as I wipe a tear from my eye.

Even more arresting—and that's not easy for me to say—was the common sense demonstrated by Hber and her fellow presenters in the green steps they’ve taken. Right now there’s a feeling, reality-based or not, that restaurants’ green efforts may be sidelined by the industry’s financial straits. How can you save the environment when you’re focused full-bore on saving the business?

And does a thin-walleted public even care anymore? According to epicurious.com’s forecast of next year’s major food trends, “‘value’ is the new “sustainable.’”

That notion was swatted down during the webinar, “Making 2009 a ‘Greener’ Year for Your Restaurant.” The title may have used "greener" in the environmental sense, but it could just as readily been referring to dollars. The speakers stressed that you don’t have to loom your own uniforms or adopt a polar bear to demonstrate an environmental consciousness. A few simple changes, they reported, will please both green-minded customers and a dollar-fixated business manager.

Chris Dahlander, proprietor of the two-unit Snappy Salads fast-casual chain, said his operation has cut its water bill by $1,600 a year by installing low-flow sprayer nozzles in the kitchen. He estimated the cost of the nozzles at under $80, and noted that his utility provided them to Snappy Salads free of charge as part of its conservation program.

He’s also cutting down on paper—and how much he spends on it—by refusing to use a fax machine. “I say, ‘Well, I have e-mail,. Why not just e-mail it to me?’”

Jeffrey Clark, a consultant with ICF International who spoke on behalf of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Energy Star program, noted that keying restroom lights to motion sensors costs less than $85. Yet by ensuring the lights stay off until someone enters, the gizmos cut a room’s electricity use by 25% to 75%. Similarly, fluorescent bulbs, despite their higher costs, use only about 25% as much electricity as incandescents do, and they last appreciably longer.

Dahlander cited such other economical green moves as using vegetable scraps to make soup stocks instead of throwing them out, and cleaning glass surfaces with just vinegar and water.

But not all of the green measures he’s taken are as economical as standard practices. He noted that Snappy Salads uses cups and other disposables that are made from corn starch, which biodegrades. But they also erode his bottom line a bit.

“The corn-based cups cost about 16 cents each,” he said. “So we decided to charge people for water.”

Dahlander explained that he put up a sign in each of his restaurants, alerting patrons that a glass of water would now cost them 25 cents, and explaining why. The message explains that “we’re not going to make any money on it,” and that the charge merely defrays the cost of the cup.

“I’ve had three people say to me, ‘Hey, you’re crazy for doing this.’ They paid it. They just said I was crazy.’”

He noted that each of his fast-casual outlets gross about $1 million a year in sales. Crazy, indeed.

You can catch a replay by looking here on the NRA's environmental site, Conserve.