ONE on BenDaugherty / Program Manager, Green Dining Alliance

Ways to Support

GDA and earthday365

This booklet offers coupons for 20 different GDA-certified restaurants. The deals are valid for the rest of 2023, and the passport is available on GDA’s website.

WRITTEN BY MARY ANDINO | PHOTOS BY SEAN LOCKE

If you’re looking to make more eco-friendly choices when dining out, nonprofit earthday365's Green Dining Alliance program is here to help. According to program manager Ben Daugherty, GDA collaborates with local restaurants to lower their environmental impact through a rigorous inspection process. By eating at a GDA-certified restaurant, you can rest assured that you’re doing your part to help the environment.

How does GDA work with local restaurants?

We’re a resource for businesses in the food and beverage industry to be more sustainable. We do that through an on-site audit and walk-through where we sit down with the owners, managers. We look for ways to help them improve their environmental footprint. We try to be there as a support, as a resource to help these businesses implement some different sustainable practices to be greener and more cost-effective.

What does the GDA certification process entail?

We have our core concepts that all GDA members have to abide by. They can’t use Styrofoam; they have to use something that’s recyclable or postconsumer or compostable. The other core concept is that they will be recycling. They also have to have some waste-reduction processes in place. In terms of the more in-depth audit process that we do, we look at a series of different arenas – we look at packaging waste, we look at food waste. We also look at energy conservation and efficiency and water conservation and efficiency. Food sourcing and procurement is a major piece of the audit where we look at locality and certifications such as USDA organic, Certified Naturally Grown, hormone free, steroid free, pasture raised,sustainably harvested seafood and fair trade, to name a few.

How does GDA combat “greenwashing”? There are terms like “local, natural, fresh” that are thrown out there a lot. While local is great, it doesn’t always necessarily mean it’s a good product or a sustainable product. [Greenwashing] is definitely a challenge. As the Green Dining Alliance, we’re there as a resource to kind of do that work to vet out any kind of greenwashing with our GDA establishments.

What projects does GDA have in the works for 2023? We received some really good grant funding. One of those is for composting, so we’re able to support GDA members that are composting or looking to compost. One of the other grants that we received is for plastic waste reduction, a kind of litter and disposables reduction within food businesses. We’re going to be meeting with neighborhood representatives to get us in touch with the different businesses to help reduce litter in the streets [and] in the neighborhoods. The grant is going to provide funding to any businesses to replace Styrofoam with a material that’s less harmful to the environment.

Green Dining Alliance, 314-282-7533, greendiningalliance.org

In order to reduce packaging waste, people can download an app and go to select GDA restaurants to get a Kind Box – a reusable container for takeout orders.

Each year, GDA hosts Green Dining Week. Each day, a portion of sales from select GDA-certified restaurants will go to support the GDA.