GreenWays - GreenWaste Recovery

INSIDE
Palo Alto Restaurants That Compost! p. 2-3
GreenWays
The quarterly COMMERCial newsletter from GreenWaste Palo Alto spring 2010
DELICIOUSLYGREEN
Palo Alto’s Favorite Restaurants Get Composting
In addition to its luscious greenery, gorgeous
houses and endless sunshine, Palo Alto is known
in the South Bay for something else - its wide variety of good eats. There are restaurants at every
price point to suit every craving; it’s no wonder
Palo Alto is a hot spot for serious foodies.
Now with Greenwaste of Palo Alto’s compostable
collection program, there is even more reason to
indulge guilt-free. Since service to local businesses began last summer, 79 pioneering restaurants
have signed up for the service. Since most of the
waste that restaurants and cafes produce is compostable, diverting this waste out of their regular
garbage is an effective and easy way for them to
reduce their impact on our environment.
One of the first restaurants in the city to sign up
for the compost collection service and implement
diversion practices in their kitchen was Bistro
Elan. Highly rated on Yelp and listed in Michelin’s
Events
Bay-Friendly Workshops
Saturdays 10am-1pm
Bay-Friendly Gardening Basics
July 24, September 25
Considering form and function before planting
can save you time and resources. This workshop
will provide an overview of design and
maintenance considerations and practices that
will help you make smart choices at the nursery.
Let Worms Eat Your Garbage
August 21
Small on space and big on benefits, worm
composting is a great way to recycle kitchen scraps
into a fantastic organic fertilizer.
Contact Information
Printed on 30% Post-Consumer Recycled Paper
2009 Restaurant Guide, Bistro Elan is
known around the Bay Area for flawlessly
executed French classics, such as duck
confit and chocolate soufflé. We spoke
with Ambjorn Lindskog, owner and chef of
Bistro Elan, to learn more about his experience with the program.
Greenwaste: It’s been almost a year since
your restaurant started the compost service.
Tell us about it!
Ambjorn Lindskog: It has worked well for
us. The most amazing part is the size of our
garbage can now. Our garbage bill has been
cut in half! I don’t know why people don’t
compost, it’s very easy. Our customers are
happy knowing that they are patronizing a
business that cares about the environment
and the community.
Please pre-register with the Santa Clara County
Home Composting Program at www.ReduceWaste.
org or call (408) 918-4640. There is a $20 fee
for all Bay-Friendly Gardening workshops, which
includes a Bay-Friendly Gardening book.
Palo Alto Community Action
Partnership (CEAP) Meetings
(continued on page 2)
Shredding Event
Saturday August 28, 8am – 11am
Quarterly shredding events are held at the Sunnyvale
Materials Recovery and Transfer (SMaRT) Station for
residents from its partner cities: Mountain View, Palo
Alto and Sunnyvale. The SMaRT Station is located at
301 Carl Road, Sunnyvale.
July 8, 4-6pm • August 12, 4-6pm
Palo Alto Art Center, Meeting Room
1313 Newell Road, Palo Alto
Residents may participate by bringing up to 5 bankersize boxes or paper bags to the event. Please remove
documents from binders and binder clips; however,
paper clips, staples, spiral notebooks and rubber
bands are acceptable.
September 9, 4-6pm • October 14, 4-6pm
Lucie Stern Community Center
1305 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto
Shredding event is for residential customers only; proof
of residency will be required. For additional information,
please call the Zero Waste Program at (650) 496-5910.
www.pa-ceap.org
GreenWaste
Customer Service
(650) 493-4894
City of Palo Alto
Zero Waste
(650) 496-5910
City of Palo Alto
Hazardous Waste
(650) 496-6980
City of Palo Alto
Landfill
(650) 329-2655
2 GreenWays
DELICIOUSLYGREEN
Palo Alto’s Favorite Restaurants Get Composting
(continued from page 1)
GW: Think back to when you first started the program. Did
your staff have any reservations about composting?
and after two days people started to understand where things
were supposed to go.
AL: You know before the composting program started, we used
to regard all our waste as trash. At first, everyone was afraid that
the compostable waste might smell. To keep our kitchen clean
we decided to just take out the compostable waste more often
and now we’re used to it.
GW: What tips do you have for businesses thinking about
subscribing to the service?
AL: Get the compostable bin liners. Yes, it’s a little more expensive, but so worth it because it keeps everything neat and tidy
and makes it easier when you want to take your compostable
waste out. In spite of this additional cost, we still save money
because our garbage has been reduced so much that we’ve
now switched to a smaller bin, which costs less for service.
GW: Did you have any challenges training your staff to implement the new procedures?
AL: No. It was very easy because we have the posters you gave us
with pictures in English and Spanish. So we set up the three bins
Palo Alto Restaurants That Compost
(By general neighborhood/area. Restaurants participating as of April 1, 2010)
✪
UNIVERSITY
✪
Café Rennaissance
Cheesecake Factory
China Delight
Coupa Café
Crepevine
Empire Tap Room
Fraîche
Garden Fresh
Gelato Classsico
House of Bagels
Il Fornaio
Joya Restaurant and Lounge
Kan Zeman
La Strada Ristorante Italiano
Lavanda Restaurant
and Wine Bar
MacArthur Park
Mandarin Gourmet
Mantra Restaurant and Lounge
Monique’s Chocolate
New York Pizza
Nola’s Restaurant and Bar
Pasta?
Peninsula Creamery
Reposado
Rose and Crown Pub
Shokolaat
Slidebar
Sprout Café
Starbucks University Ave
Tamarine Restaurant
The Old Pro
The Prolific Oven Bakery
and Coffeehouse
Three Seasons
University Coffee Café
Vero Ristorante Italiano
Zibibbo Restaurant
CALIFORNIA
Antonio’s Nut House
Baumé
Bistro Elan
Café Brioche
Cho’s Resturaunt
Culture Frozen Yogurt
Homma’s Brown Rice Sushi
Izzy’s Bagels
Jin Sho Japanese Restaurant
Joanie’s Café
Oaxacan Kitchen
Palo Alto Baking Co.
Ramona’s Pizza
The Counter
The Tandoori Oven
✪
✪
✪
GreenWays 3
Comparing
Palo Alto’s Tons
of Garbage,
Recycling and
Compostables
Compost
3000
2500
Recycling
2000
1500
1000
Collected from
January 2010 - March 2010
Mar 2010
500
Garbage
Feb 2010
Jan 2010
t (And Make a Difference!).
✪
✪
✪
✪
✪
EL CAMINO
✪
Boston Market
Calafia Café
California Café
Chipotle
Creamery Stanford
Euro Mart
Fuki Sushi
Max’s Opera Café
Mayfield Bakery and Café
Olive Garden
PF Changs
Scott’s Seafood Grill and Bar
Starbucks El Camino Real
Straits Café
Su Hong Eatery
Sundance Steakhouse
The Fish Market
Trader Vic’s
✪
MIDDLEFIELD
Como Esta Taqueria
Dohatsuten
Green Elephant Gourmet
Palo Alto Café
Philz Coffee
Rick’s Icecream
Subway
Ming’s Restaurant
PA Hills Country Club
www.greenwaste.com
2000 Geng Road
Palo Alto, CA 94303
PRSRT STD
US POSTAGE
PAID
SAN JOSE, CA
PERMIT NO. 498
After many years of promoting home composting, you may be puzzled to find we’re
not offering these workshops this year. It’s not because we no longer support
home composting; we definitely do. We are still working in partnership with the
Santa Clara County Home Composting Education Program and we are still
offering residents reduced cost composting bins. However, instead of offering
workshops focused solely on backyard composting, we are now offering
Bay-Friendly Gardening workshops that support the larger concept of
sustainable landscaping and gardening!
The Bay-Friendly Landscaping & Gardening program addresses the need
for holistic approaches to gardening as opposed to compartmentalized,
individual programs. Bay-Friendly integrates a variety of principles that work
with nature to reduce waste, conserve natural resources and protect the
watersheds of the San Francisco Bay.
The Bay-Friendly program is more than just workshops–it offers a variety of
resources and tools for both home gardeners and landscape professionals.
Zero Waste has joined with other City programs and departments to foster local
Bay-Friendly efforts and offer some of the tools and resources provided by the
Bay-Friendly program. To further this holistic effort, the City is also an active participant in the Bay-Friendly Landscaping & Gardening Coalition, a Bay Area-wide
organization working to promote Bay-Friendly practices.
More information about Bay-Friendly practices, resources and workshops can be
found at www.BayFriendlyCoalition.org