Thursday, July 08, 2010 -

Nicky Robertshaw Hitching - Special to The Daily News -

Some Memphis restaurants are finding it ain’t easy being green.

But operating in an environmentally sustainable fashion is rewarding, it’s winning kudos from customers, and it can be done with the help of Project Green Fork, a local nonprofit dedicated to helping restaurants go green.

Among those restaurants is Sekisui in Midtown, which was certified by the nonprofit organization last year. The necessary steps, especially recycling, mean extra work for the restaurant’s employees, said David Lindsey, director of marketing and IT for Sekisui Inc.

“It’s really rewarding, though, when you see how much stuff you prevent from going into the landfill,” said Lindsey, who noted the material they recycle each week is enough to fill up about four 95-gallon “green monster” garbage carts.

The commitment of restaurant staff has been key to Sekisui’s success, he noted, adding that the company expects to get PGF certification for its other restaurants eventually.

Sekisui is one of 30 local restaurants that have been certified by Project Green Fork, started two years ago to help restaurants go green. There are six criteria for certification, including recycling, using environmentally sustainable packaging and switching to nontoxic cleaners.

Among those already certified or working toward certification are Central BBQ, Interim, Just for Lunch, Umai, Café Eclectic, Otherlands, Amerigo and Napa Cafe.

Huey’s flagship location in Midtown on Madison Avenue recently made the commitment to win PGF certification, after complaints about all the Styrofoam being used, said Ashley Boggs Williams, Huey’s vice president of operations. She said they had considered going green for three or four years.

So replacing Styrofoam with paper packaging was the first move, but it did not come cheap. Sustainable packaging costs twice as much as Styrofoam, and presents an interesting perception problem, Williams said.

“We are using a 16-ounce paper cup that is the exact same size as the Styrofoam cup we’ve used for years and years. But to some customers, it seems smaller,” she said. “Styrofoam just has that full, big white look to it.”


Project Green Fork is the brainchild of Margot McNeeley, a yoga teacher with experience in retail management, marketing, human resources and waiting tables.

She got the idea for PGF in 2007, after years of being bothered by all the waste she noticed while eating out at restaurants. When she learned that each restaurant meal produces an average of one-and-a-half pounds of garbage, she decided it was time to act.

“It had started making me a little crazy,” she said.

If she thought it would be simply a matter of opening the Memphis branch of an already-thriving national green-restaurant program, she soon found out different. She would have to develop a program herself, which meant tons of research.

It took a year to organize Project Green Fork, to develop the branding and criteria for certification, and to set up a nonprofit organization. On Aug. 2, 2008, Project Green Fork began operation, with the Cooper-Young restaurant Tsunami as its first “pilot” client. Some early media attention meant PGF took off quickly, and so far has exceeded its goal of signing 12 restaurants a year.

In developing the certification criteria, McNeeley said she used common sense, and saw that recycling, composting and replacing Styrofoam with sustainable packaging would make the biggest difference. Other requirements include replacing toxic cleaners with nontoxic ones and taking steps to prevent pollution.

A final and important requirement is to complete a Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division energy audit followed by making recommended changes for reducing energy and water consumption.

However, PGF hasn’t done quite as well with the other green – money. Although PGF charges restaurants a fee for its services and gets donations, it needs more to cover the cost of operations. To that end, McNeeley plans to apply for grant money.

As for expanding operations, McNeeley said she gets phone calls every day from interested parties, ranging from brides planning a green wedding to the Shelby County Penal Farm, which serves some 9,000 meals a day. However, while she is open to helping others start green restaurant programs in their own cities, she plans to keep her focus local.

“It really is a community business,” McNeeley said. “I have a passion and enthusiasm and love for Memphis. I have been wanting to do the right thing for our community, so I feel fortunate that I get to do this.”