While “being green” has long signified a person who supports and promotes the protection of the environment, the word and concept have exploded onto the American sound-bite scene in the past few years.
And “Hell, yeah” to a trend too long in catching on and too important to fade away. Advertisers have taken note, and it seems almost every business around offers something “eco-conscious” or “environmentally friendly” these days.
But what about businesses that have always been ecologically aware as a basic business principle rather than an advertising ploy?
Read on for some (and by no means all) Reno businesses that are helping the environment in little ways, every day. Add other places’ stories in the comments.
Ceol Irish Pub uses glassware for serving drinks as much as possible.
“This is as green as you can get,” owner Ron McCarty said, holding a highball glass. But on busier nights and for special events like St. Patrick’s Day, the bar gets too busy to get glasses washed and ready for the next pour.
For those times, instead of ubiquitous red plastic kegger cups, Ceol has been using the completely biodegradable corn cup by Eco Products.
“When we went to order cups last year from Sysco we had the option to get regular plastic cups or spend a bit more money and get environmentally safe cups,” said Seth Lagana, bartender at Ceol. “It was an easy decision to go with the more eco-friendly ones.”
The fully compostable cups are clear and are made from an annually renewable resource, corn, making them environmentally friendly. Corn plastics are plastics made from PLA (polylactide) and they look and feel just like regular plastic, but are 100 percent biodegradable and compostable.
Ceol recycles or reuses as much as it can, but “when we have to throw things away, we go with something biodegradable,” McCarty said.
In addition to their unusual drink recipes and handmade beverages, the bartenders at Chapel Tavern take steps to not serve processed mixes.
Bartender Jason Brounstein explains, “Duncan, the owner, hated going into bars and seeing the bartender pour mix out of a commercial, plastic container, so when he opened Chapel he wanted to make sure we always poured our own mixes made in-house.”
The bartenders squeeze their own fresh lemon, lime, grapefruit and orange juice everyday, and Duncan makes his own blueberry, raspberry, and vanilla vodka infusions, which are aged for weeks. Fewer plastic bottles bought means Chapel is helping the environment, and the fresh ingredients and lack of preservatives benefit customers.
Great Basin Community Food Co-Op
Good news for anyone who likes their groceries homegrown and natural: Great Basin Community Food Co-Op is now open to the public. Formerly membership-only, the Co-Op now has a new location at 542 ½ Plumas St., a brightly painted little store where anyone in the community can buy vegan and gluten-free products, organic eggs, produce, honey — even goat’s milk soap — produced by local farmers and sold at the same prices you’d pay at larger retailer.
“When you shop at the Co-Op, you’re supporting the local economy, so your money is going right back into the community,” said Toni Ortega, Workers' Collective member. “You’re supporting local artisans and growers, so you’re being sustainable and eating seasonally.”
Red Rock Studio is environmentally friendly in an artistic, creative way that has become the trademark of the art bar.
We built the bar around using neon lights,” said owner Kevin McGehee. “We use almost exclusively neon because it’s very energy efficient, using hardly any electricity, and because we wanted to feature the work of local neon artist Jeff Johnson.”
Neon, as well as LED lights, lower energy consumption because they draw minimal input current. Bonus points: Neon just looks cool.
Bootleg Courier/Silver Peak (Sierra and Wonder spots)
Bootleg Courier, a Reno-based bike messenger company, is about as green as a company can get. Co-owners Chad Strand and Doug Moore can deliver anything, law documents, medical files, or lunch, to anywhere in the Reno region.
“We can take whatever you need delivered and get it there on time, on our bikes, without nasty emissions,” Moore said. “The McCarran loop is faster on a bike than in a car every time, and we can also deliver as far as Yerington and South Lake by car using biodiesel.”
Bootleg uses two diesel-engine Mercedes vehicles, a ‘79 and an ’81, that run on biodiesel from Bently Biofuel, located in Minden. Moore and Strand are currently in the process of converting the engines to also run on vegetable oil, which will be donated by Silver Peak. How’s that for a sustainable community connection?
