Eat Green, Drink Local 

Eat Green, Drink Local was designed as an awareness event to introduce GreenPlate – which works with restaurants to remove plastic and become more sustainable – and the launch of HalfOffGreen.com, which offers discounts to restaurants and businesses who have committed to going green. The successful event was held at Sweetwater Brewery, drawing a support crowd, who got to sample food, hear music and network.



Steve Franklin of JavaVino and John O'Brien of Offset Alliance

Party Fun

Ken Weeks of Bionade

Smokey's Farmland Band

Eat Green, Drink Local

Diners all over the metro area are seeking something more when they decide where to eat.  In addition to wanting good food at the right price, more Atlantans want to know they are supporting restaurants that care about the environment.  Now they can visit HalfOffGreen.com.

HalfOffGreen.com offers discount coupons to diners for Atlanta restaurants that are committed to becoming more sustainable. Participating restaurants include Java Vino, Miltown Tavern, Moe’s on Ponce, Radial Café, Repast and Wasabi.  HalfOffGreen.com will be adding more restaurants to the coupon program in coming weeks.

The program is simple. Customers log on to HalfOffGreen.com and buy discount certificates that they redeem at their favorite green businesses for half their retail value. For example, a $10 discount certificate can be purchased for just $5.  The customer receives their certificates by mail, which can then be redeemed at specific locations all over Atlanta.

“We are genuinely excited to be part of HalfOffGreen.com,” said Barbara Keeney, one of the owners of Miltown Arms Tavern.  “We knew we wanted to more than just offer great food in a great atmosphere.  But we weren’t sure exactly how to make our location more sustainable.  Since we committed to participating in the HalfOffGreen program, their staff has shown us several practical ways we can save energy, produce less waste and do our part to make Atlanta a healthier, greener community.”

Part of the value of every coupon offered in the HalfOffGreen program help support the efforts of GreenPlate, Inc., an Atlanta-based non-profit created by Polly Sattler, which offers consulting, research, education and practical solutions to help businesses go green. Sattler has partnered with Montine Blank, who is overseeing HalfOffGreen.com.

GreenPlate consults with local eateries and businesses on how to become greener in a cost neutral and financially sustainable way. GreenPlate asks new participants in the program to commit to recycling efforts; banning polystyrene and finding replacements for petroleum based take-out or packaging materials, Sattler said. Additional greening goals may encompass energy and water efficiency, waste reduction, pollutants and product sourcing.

“We helped The Shed restaurant in Glenwood Park save $600 a year on their power bill,” Sattler said, “and we’ve offered other solutions to further cut their energy consumption.”

Radial Café near Candler Park was one of the first to utilize GreenPlate’s services last year. “We’ve been dedicated to recycling, saving energy and avoiding plastic products for several years,” said owner Phil Palmer.

“We know that many of our best customers make a special effort to visit us because they agree with our green values. As far as we’re concerned, the more restaurants participating in HalfOffGreen and support the work of GreenPlate, the better for all of us.”



GreenCell is officially partnering with Kwanza Hall of Atlanta City Council District 2 to "GreenUp Community Clean-Ups" throughout 2009 in his district.

GreenUP CleanUps separate recyclables from trash, avoid using plastic water bottles, and teach communities about how and what to recycle in their area. There are also added safety guidelines and the training of GreenCell Ambassadors.

Won't you be my Sustainable Neighbor?

A few weeks ago, Barbara Keeney called to ask if GreenPlate could help green the Milltown 'Olympics' event. Milltown Arms Tavern in Cabbagetown has been very open and excited about reducing their environmental footprint. For the August 1st event, GreenPlate helped choose alternatives to plastics, recycling, and composting to reduce trash.

Milltown used products like paper bowls, cups, recycled toilet paper, napkins and biodegradable trash bags from Indoff. As a result, GreenCo Environmental, Georgia's only commercial manufacturer of organic compost using food waste, partnered with us to collect all the food waste, collected cardboard and take out materials. GreenCo composts materials so that it reaches a really high temperature which allows them compost the biodegrables and meat and bones -- things you wouldn't want to try in your home composting system!

Other actions taken included using real silverware for the shrimp boil instead of disposable utensils. At the bar, stirrers were made out of bamboo supplied by Bamboo Studio and while there were plastic straws on the bar, they were only available by request to reduce their overall use. The City of Atlanta Recycling Program Manager Mary Harrington dropped of recycling bins and glass, aluminum and plastic were collected. ReMix recycling agreed to pick up recycling materials.

Not only did the Olympic's participants shine like champions but they also helped the recycling and composting efforts a success by not contaminating the collections.

This has been a great start. GreenPlate is looking forward to working with Barb and Milltown to reduce water and energy use next!

"GreenPlate believes you can give a community a recycling bin, or you
can teach them how to be green."

Castleberry Hill Arts District, Atlanta, Georgia - We are launching GreenCell communities who learn and work together to identify and implement an array of environmentally impactful solutions for community, restaurant and residential improvements. Categories are water and energy efficiency, resource conservation, waste reduction, recycling, and composting. A few of the MANY solutions include community clean-ups that recycle the waste gathered, restaurants' collective buying arrangements for disposable biodegradable take-out products, free energy-saving tips for the home, and community-sponsored reusable shopping bags.

The project will produce "living documentation" of tools, resources, tips, training kits, and trained GreenCell Ambassadors to help other neighborhoods follow suit.

GreenPlate is excited to initiate the first GreenCell community with the Castleberry Hill Art District in Atlanta, GA. We are selecting Castleberry Hill (www.castleberryhill.org) for its progressive, diverse community and its hallmark as a destination in Atlanta. There are over 350 families, 10 art galleries and 14 restaurants in the district. Each month an Art Stroll brings in thousands of people from all over Atlanta. The community also hosts loft tours, internationally recognized art events, a community yard sale and more. Neighborhood leadership is primed and committed to being Atlanta’s first GreenCell.

Castleberry Hill sees this opportunity as a way to build community cohesiveness and “spirit”, promote the existing events and have a cleaner and safer neighborhood. We see it as a way to reduce a community's environmental impact and to nurture green growth one GreenCell at a time.