Dear Boston Green Tourism Members,   

 

Our next Boston Green Tourism meeting will be Thursday at Hotel Marlowe in Alexis A, floor 2, from 2:30 to 4:00.       

 

Thank you Michal Penek for hosting us!    

        

Dan 

Brasserie Jo Pioneers Green Dining in Boston Hotels       

by Charlotte Maher, Green Restaurant Association.

 

Brasserie Jo has challenged the typically enormous environmental footprint of restaurants. This uniquely French hot spot within the Colonnade Hotel recognizes that restaurants can make green changes to prevent excess use of water, energy and landfill space. With the help of the Green Restaurant Association (GRA), Brasserie Jo has drastically reduced its environmental impact, and has become the first Boston hotel to become a 3 Star Certified Green Restaurant®.

 

Brasserie Jo has exceeded the GRA's rigorous environmental standards to become a 3 Star Certified Green Restaurant® by earning over 183 GreenPoints in the categories of energy, water, waste, disposables, chemicals, food, and building materials. Over half of these GreenPoints™ were earned by taking steps to minimize waste and conserve energy across the restaurant's operations.

 

While the average restaurant sends the weight of 10 elephants to landfills each year, Brasserie Jo has implemented a full-scale recycling and composting program to become a Near-Zero Waste Restaurant™. Brasserie Jo diverts nearly all of its waste from landfills by recycling as much as possible (from plastics, glass, aluminum, paper and cardboard, to grease, lamps and batteries). In addition, organic materials are composted, including both scraps from the kitchen and leftovers from meals. By taking 10 environmental steps to eliminate waste, Brasserie Jo has earned 54 GreenPoints™ towards their Certification.

 

Brasserie Jo has also made energy conservation a priority, and has earned over 69 GreenPoints™ in the process. Realizing that certain kitchen appliances alone can use more resources than an entire household, Brasserie Jo opted to upgrade their ice machines and fryers to more efficient models that save the restaurant thousands of kilowatt-hours and gallons of water each year. Further, the restaurant houses an electric car in its garage, and saves tremendously with this technology.

 

Brasserie Jo, a long-term staple in Boston's restaurant scene, is now reaching a continuously expanding audience of consumers that truly care about dining green; after all, research shows that 79% of diners are more likely to visit a Certified Green Restaurant® over one that's not. By taking the steps to green their practices, Brasserie Jo has proven that restaurants can become more sustainable without sacrificing quality.

 

Brasserie Jo's Top Environmental Steps
	GreenPoints™         Earned
Recycling: Full-Scale Program	25.75
Composting: Pre-Consumer Waste	17.50
Composting: Post-Consumer Waste	7.50
High-Efficiency Fryer	11.25
High-Efficiency Ice Machines	10.73
Renewable Energy Credits	20.00
GreenPoints™ Earned	92.73

EPA Webinar: Greening the Food Services Sector

"The Greening the Food Services Sector webinar will demonstrate how [restaurants] can improve efficiency, reduce pollution and save money by implementing sustainable and best practices. The case studies presented...will focus on restaurants that have 'gone green' and the benefits they received from making these changes."  

 

Ask Your Peers  

Do you have questions that you want to ask your peers, anonymously or not? If so, contact me. I can post the questions in this newsletter, research them or put you in touch with your peers who can answer your questions.

 

Also, if you want me to address particular topics in this newsletter, or in our meetings, please contact me.