For Diners
Spread the Word
What better way to influence change than encouraging your favorite restaurants to join the GDA! Download and print these cards to leave behind with your receipt. Alternatively, you can stop by our office to pick up some cards or request some via mail.
(Click image to download PDF)
Your Choices Matter.
St. Louis has over 2,000 restaurants. Where will you decide to eat? Will your choice reflect your values?
There are many factors at play when you are making the decision about where to eat (and spend your money): How close is the restaurant? Do they have options that will satisfy everyone in my family? Is parking easy? Is it in walking distance? Is there outdoor seating? Is it loud or intimate?
What might happen if we started asking bigger questions?
Do they have a sustainable purchasing policy? Will my leftovers be packaged in Styrofoam? How much waste will be going to the landfill at the end of the night? Will my wine bottle be recycled? Will excess food be donated to area food banks?
Imagine the impact if your favorite restaurants knew these questions were on your mind – and that you might not choose them if you didn’t like their answers…
Cut through the noise with a trusted certification.
The Green Dining Alliance certification was researched and designed by staff at St. Louis Earth Day. Our goal is to increase environmental awareness and influence consumer decisions. We are motivated by the aspiration to increase sustainable dining opportunities for St. Louisians and to promote the restaurants that are starting to change their practices as well as those that have been setting the high bar for years.
As third-party administrators of the program, we are able to provide a non-biased assessment of a restaurant’s current practices and work with them to recommend an appropriate, achievable strategy for annual improvement.
Our certification is not a rubber stamp.
Sustainability is a journey, not a destination. In this dynamic field, technologies and best practices are changing all of the time. For this reason, we encourage all of the GDA restaurants to set goals against their first year baseline. Goals are revisited annually and participants are required to work toward new goals every year to maintain their certification. Education is an important component of what we do. Quarterly workshops help keep restaurateurs up-to-date on best practices, new technology and local case studies demonstrating sustainable practices.
Please sign up for the Green Dining Alliance newsletter so we can let you know when restaurants join the program and keep you up-to-date on the latest GDA happenings. There are several opportunities to get involved to help promote this program to restaurants and diners. And if you have any suggestions, contact us at green.restaurants@stlouisearthday.org.
