The Green Dining Alliance (GDA) is a restaurant certification program that collaborates with restaurants and community leaders to increase local, sustainable dining options. Created by the nonprofit St. Louis Earth Day, the GDA works with restaurants to lower their environmental impact by improving practices, reducing and recycling waste, and sourcing better products – creating more and better green dining options for the people of the St. Louis.
Go out to #EatGreenSTL!
Eating green is one of the most impactful environmental and economic choices you can make. The GDA empowers diners to direct their dining dollars toward local restaurants that share their values of stewardship and quality.
Diners can visit the GDA website for a complete listing of restaurants who have taken the initiative to become certified.There is a great cross-section of options to choose from: fine dining, brew pubs, cafes, food trucks, bakers, dessert and traditions from around the world: www.greendiningalliance.org/dine/list. You can gauge a restaurant’s impact by the number of green stars they achieve.
What does it mean to be GDA-certified?
Restaurants who want to join the GDA are encouraged to 1) reduce, recycle, and compost the waste they generate, 2) source sustainable food, to-go ware and cleaning supplies, and 3) conserve energy and water. Once they agree to basic “Core Concepts,” they undergo a holistic audit of their entire operation. Restaurants are then scored and awarded a “GDA-Certified” window decal – assuring passing diners that this establishment truly ‘walks the walk’ behind the scenes.
Big Impact, Big Goals
By the end of 2016, St. Louis Earth Day hopes to have at least 100 local restaurants in the Green Dining Alliance program. This represents incredible growth of this program since its pilot in 2012 – the GDA has steadily increased its membership by at least 50% every year. Last year, GDA restaurants collectively diverted 924 metric tons of waste from area landfills to recycling and composting centers!
Support the restaurants that do things right. Choose a GDA-certified restaurant and #EatGreenSTL!
The Green Dining Alliance program is funded primarily by grants from the St. Louis-Jefferson Solid Waste Management District, St. Louis County Department of Health, and the Trio Foundation. Sponsorship opportunities are available for businesses whose products and practices reflect GDA values.