Going Out to Eat, but Staying Green

AT the Oko frozen yogurt shop in Park Slope, Brooklyn, the counter and walls are made from sunflower seeds and its awnings have solar panels.

EARTHWISE B. R. Guest uses paper for takeout.

Birdbath bakery delivers by pedal power.

Maury Rubin said that when he opens his third Birdbath organic bakery this spring, in Battery Park City, the roof will be planted with herbs to help air quality and insulate the store. Like the other Birdbaths in lower Manhattan, its furnishings will be made from recycled materials and wheat board.

Gusto Grilled Organics in Greenwich Village has been certified as organic under federal regulations by the Northeast Organic Farming Association of New York and its construction complies with standards set by the U.S. Green Building Council, a national environmental building organization.

Places like these, with a countercultural vibe, are what the phrase “green restaurant” might bring to mind.

But at the 13 New York and Chicago restaurants of Stephen Hanson’s B. R. Guest Restaurants, where you’re more likely to find patrons knocking back margaritas than sipping herbal tea, there’s a sanitation expert to help with recycling, as well as paper takeout containers, and organic eggs and other ingredients (as long as they’re not too expensive or hard to get).

At Del Posto, near the meatpacking district in Manhattan, where there are little stools for purses, biodiesel trucks fueled by its used cooking oil fetch ingredients from an upstate farm and return with the restaurant’s compost.

“There are many ways to be green,” said Joseph Bastianich, an owner.

And many places that are trying. Lately, when restaurateurs create a menu or settle on a design, they’re considering the environment along with the cuisine. Some do it to save money and others to tap into a popular trend, but many do it because they believe in it. Jason Hennings said the ingredients at Black Iron Burger, which he is to open soon in the East Village, will come from New York State, avoiding fuel-burning, cross-country deliveries. “I want this to be an ethical burger,” he said.

The seal of approval for many environmentally concerned dining places around the country comes from the nonprofit Green Restaurant Association, founded by Michael Oshman in 1990, when, he said, there was no green business movement.

Now, his organization, based in Boston, has more than 350 members, which for an annual fee of 0 to ,000, depending on their size, get a “Green Restaurant” seal for their windows once they replace all polystyrene foam products, agree to recycle as much as possible, and begin to phase in other environmental measures, including composting, conserving water, disposing of grease responsibly and using chlorine-free paper products.

To check on compliance, the association occasionally inspects restaurants, but more often it looks at invoices to confirm that they are buying nontoxic cleaning products, energy efficient light bulbs and the like.

“We have to make these certifications credible,” Mr. Oshman said. “We’ve had issues with some clients, like one who had a contract with a recycler but the recycling company reported that the bins were always empty.”

José Duarte, the chef and owner of Taranta in Boston, said the association didn’t just approve his efforts, it also helped get things done. “When I needed new business cards I wanted them on chlorine-free paper, and the association could tell me which printers to contact,” he said. “Otherwise I would have had to call all over town myself.”

Keeping paper products nontoxic may be environmentally sound, but Mr. Oshman said that, increasingly, the industry is going green to save money.

Mr. Duarte, for instance, said that by composting he has cut down on garbage pickups, reducing his costs by about 45 percent. He said motion sensors in the bathrooms for the fans and lighting have helped cut energy costs by as much as ,000 a year.

Mr. Oshman said his members “realize that it’s good for business and good practice.” And, he added, “It’s better to do it voluntarily, so it doesn’t get legislated.”