San Diego GreenLife

by Erick Pettersen

On May 29th, Catt Fields White, owner of Gallery 680 in San Diego’s Little Italy neighborhood, launched Greenertables.org — a website that is designed to encourage restaurants to reduce their environmental impact by cutting waste and partnering with restaurant suppliers who produce environmentally-friendly products.

Before White moved to San Diego she lived in Phoenix, where she spent several years in the restaurant industry. As a former restaurant owner, critic, and consultant, she knows every aspect of restaurant management — including day-to-day operations, cost management, cooking great food and creating memorable dining experiences. White also publishes Serving San Diego magazine, which caters to restaurant management.

In 2008, White was nominated for the Arizona Culinary Hall of Fame; though she was not inducted, she justifiably considers the nomination an honor. All this makes her a knowledgeable campaigner for a more sustainable restaurant industry.

Greenertables.org will feature a database of green restaurants in ten cities, (with more to come), for public review. The list will include large chain and independent restaurants. The site will score restaurants according to their efforts to minimize environmental impact.

Because the restaurant industry’s water and electricity consumption is the largest of all commercial industries except heavy manufacturing, water and energy waste/conservation make up the largest portion of each restaurant’s score.

According to White, “If you want restaurants to contribute to reducing environmental impact, [it needs to] make sense to them as a business.” Since many larger restaurants are already committed to reducing water and electricity consumption, White hopes the those efforts will influence smaller restaurants to improve their profit margins by implementing greener standards.

Greenertables also helps restaurants cut costs by offering monthly membership fees that range from $14.99 to $24.99. Unlike some competitors, such as DineGreen.com, which costs $1,000 to $3,000 a year for certification, White keeps the prices low so more restaurants can participate, which should draw more users to the web site.

“We believe we can be profitable by engaging more restaurants in the effort at a lower cost,” says White.

Greenertables.org uses techniques similar to many search engines. Restaurants with the highest ratings are listed first, so page placement has the potential to affect patronage and thereby profit margins. And she hopes to encourage customers to choose restaurants that combine great dining with environmental consciousness.

Restaurant patrons can take a more participatory role in Greenertables by acquiring a free membership that includes referral cards that will be available by mail or on the website. They can distribute these cards to restaurant managers to let them know their customers care about the establishment’s environmental impact.

Participants with websites can post links to Greenertables. After a dining experience, members can post reviews, including comments about restaurants’ sustainability efforts, or what a particular establishment can do to improve.

White welcomes user comments about the food, because “it shouldn’t have to taste bad to do good.” She also encourages users to submit restaurants they think Greenertables should list.

By launching Greenertables, White is creating a site she hopes will allow restaurants, restaurant suppliers, and diners to form a natural alliance — one in which all can take ownership of a greener, more enjoyable dining future.