"green restaurant association" news and stories

If you're not celebrating Earth Day by dining at one of the many Earth Dinners we offered to you earlier this week, take comfort in one of these green-certified spots approved by the only non-profit that can: the Green Restaurant Association (GRA). This 20-year-old, nationally recognized program is backed by Energy Star and the Environmental Defense Fund. To get an approval from this group, your establishment needs to be Stryfoam-free, recycle-friendly (and compost, if available) and use sustainable food and water.

"The Green Restaurant Association is proud to have attracted scores of highly esteemed restaurants from across the United States," said Michael Oshman, founder and executive director of the GRA, in a statement. Most recognizable: Le Bernardin, Mario Batali's empire, Microsoft corporate cafés, Hyatt hotels, Panera and Jamba Juice. Not to leave anyone out, here's the full list.

Move over Portland, Seattle and Boston, you bastions of tree-hugging, earth-friendly eco-action. It's official. The greenest restaurant in America is in Omaha, Nebraska. That's right...Omaha.

The restaurant, The Grey Plume, was crowned by the Green Restaurant Association (GRA) after they broke two GRA records. It's the first restaurant in the country to meet the association's SustainaBuild standard, and has accumulated the most GRA points to-date of the nearly 315 restaurants participating in the certification program.

According to chef Clayton Chapman, those greening efforts included specifics like the installation of energy efficient lighting, construction of the bar, booths, doors, flooring and more from renewable or reclaimed wood; using compostable or recycled material in to-go packaging; integrating a full-scale recycling and composting program, and much more.

While some green-facility advocates say the greenest building is one that's already in existence, Chapman says the restaurant's initiatives were made possible because they're part of Omaha's new Midtown Crossing project.

"In order to do what we did, you have to start from scratch," says Chapman. "Our sustainability efforts were things we were going to do whether we were certified or not, but certification keeps everyone honest, and helped us implement all these green initiatives -- everything from sourcing things like soda to recycled drywall."