O’Naturals named state’s 1st eco-leader restaurant
2007-05-08
From it’s mission to make healthy fast-food to it’s use of low-impact building materials, O’Naturals keeps an eye on the earth in all it’s business decisions. It even has waterless urinals at its Old Port spot. As a result, the Maine-based chain (which started in Falmouth) garnered the state’s first Environmental Leader Certification for Restaurants. A program of the Department of Environmental Protection, the certification is similar to the one offered for the state’s green-friendly hotels. “This is a natural fit for us and everything we’ve been doing,” say Jay Friedlander, O’Naturals chief operating officer.
How green is the food? Friedlander says 30 percent is either organic, local or wild. But it doesn’t stop there. Everything that customers chuck gets sent back to local farms for use as compost or animal feed. Now there’s a closed loop.