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

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.

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!