Through our search for understanding the process of recycling, we came across this company in Austin that recycles restaurant waste. Pretty awesome concept, right?? Especially, when you think about just how much useful material comes out of a restaurant.

Think of it like a cycle… the foods and products come into the restaurant, get consumed or used, then the waste that is left over; boxes, cans, broccoli heads, day-old foods, garnishes, get picked up and used to create more products or even to create produce that come back into the restaurant…

As we are learning, used materials are not used up at all and there is still some life in them!

The company is called Restaurant Recyclers. It is owned and was founded by a guy named Jimmy Mitchell. We got the opportunity to hang out with Jimmy and his business partner, Nathan to see how the whole operation works.

Here is how business rolls…

First, Jimmy makes contact with a client and evaluates the amount of waste that comes out.

Then, Jimmy will assign barrels to the business. He will have barrels for plastic, cardboard, metals, glass, and… oh, here is my favorite part… FOOD!!

Austin has a million restaurants. Well ok, I lie, but I do know that Austin is giving San Fran a run for 1^st place as the city with the most restaurants per capita.

With that many restaurants putting out waste, the only smart thing to do is to find ways to reduce that massive output!

Now, what does he do with all of that waste? The cardboard, plastics, glass, and metals go to Ecology Action (we’ll be writing about them later). EA is a local not for profit company that provides recycling drop offs in the city. 

What about the food? The food is taken back to his gardens. He has a few within Austin that he can take the food to, but his main site is a 5-acre garden in Spicewood, Texas.

The food waste is comprised of most foods but never meats or bones and preferably not dairy products, however egg whites and shells are ok. Even coffee grounds are encouraged to wind up in the ‘food’ barrels.

Now, this food’s eventual purpose is as compost for the gardens where Jimmy grows vegetables and fruits for other restaurants to use as produce.

Here’s the decomposition process, a tried and true method of windrows: Jimmy sets the food waste up in rows of mounds, then covers it up with a tarp to start decomposition. I was privileged to get a look at these rows. You can see the different levels the waste goes through. In some mounds I could make out different types of foods and in other mounds the process was complete and left behind was a uniform brown mulch. What became of the food was this beautiful composition of nutrients that looked like high grade dirt compost bought at a store. Hmm… forget buying fertilizer and dirt for your garden, use your leftovers!

Be surprised, but there was no smell! Now, I only got to see a smaller garden, so it may be possible that the huge lot in Spicewood stinks of rotting vegetables, but then maybe not.

So, that’s it. It’s very simple! The unused foods in restaurants like cabbage hearts, or carrot heads, or discarded limes and lemons, are thrown out into the barrels by an educated staff and are collected, instead of being thrown into landfills.  Then, Jimmy takes the waste and uses it to grow more veggies and fruits that eventually come back to your plate.

Jimmy currently works with over 30 businesses and he took us on a typical tour of his daily pick up. Restaurant recycling business is booming and Jimmy is having to upgrade more and more as bars and restaurants jump on the bandwagon to a more green and less wasteful way of running.

It’s baby steps. No one person or business can absolutely change over night. It is a matter of changing old habits and educating others.

It’s hard for some people to see the benefit of recycling. It’s costly, it’s obtrusive, and the process is pretty vague. So, why recycle? Why, as a business should you even remotely consider coming to the “green side”?

Well, it depends on how much you care about your reputation. Recycling and reusing are practices that are here to stay. It’s not a trend, it’s a new way of living and a new way of thinking and the best thing a business can do to keep its head above the competitive water is to be revolutionary.

Consumers, other companies, and the media, will notice the restaurants efforts and go there before any other consideration. Going green is a collective effort and society is naturally going that way.

Some of the restaurants that are currently part of this change are Opal Divine’s, Green Pastures, The Alamo Drafthouse, The Highball, Vespiao, Guero’s, Fonda San Miguel, and many others. I wish I could list them all but these are the only ones we could make it to that Saturday afternoon.

“From the Earth to the Table and back to the Earth” -Jimmy Mitchell

… 11/15/09

As ‘oxymoronic‘ as it seems, yes, vegetarians get to eat chili too.

It’s the 21st annual Lonestar Vegetarian Chili Cook-off.

Come out to the old Historic Travis County Farmer’s Market on Burnet Rd on Sunday the 15th. It’s right next to the new pub, The Pour House. There will be competition for the best veggie chili and the best booth. There will be exhibits, live entertainment, and giveaways.

Not only that, but the awesome 512 brewery will be out there supplying delicious beer who, just recently, celebrated their 1 year anniversary with a batch of an awesome Belgium strong ale that blew up in popularity in Austin.

This should be pretty fun. A great way to spend a Sunday afternoon. We have a couple of friends who will be out there with their chili and we will definitely be there to eat their chili!

It’s $7 for adults and $3 for kiddos and goes on from 11:30am to 4pm.

Hope to see you out there!!

I heard this neat little story on NPR the other day and couldn’t help but wonder why somebody had not thought of this sooner!

In a nutshell, San Francisco has mandated that everyone start composting their waste. This is really remarkable because many city recycling programs only apply to people in houses. San Francisco’s new law, however, also applies to people who live in apartments, businesses, and restaraunts!

Residents have received food recycling bins into which they will put their food waste. The bins will then be sealed, collected by the city, and the food will be turned into compost and sold back to community members.

So it’s going to…

1. Cut down on waste being sent to the landfill

2. Motivate residents to become more active in protecting their environment

3. Create revenue for the city

4. And create jobs

What’s not to love? I am very excited to hear about this project and will be following it closely as I have no doubt that other cities will soon be adopting these practices should they prove successful.

Click here to read (or listen) to the article as it was presented on NPR

I recently moved to a new neighborhood were there are hordes of children running the streets. Little darlings each and every one(though I’m pretty sure one of them stole my “Vegetarians Taste Better” magnetic bumper sticker). I haven’t had to worry about giving out Halloween candy before and I want to be sure that the candy I give out sends a message! An Eco-Message! I’ve been searching for the perfect candies to give out this year and it is not easy. There are a ton of options out there, but I am a monkey on a budget and I also understand the need for individually-wrapped treats. So here are my top picks of the more affordable choices:

Natural Candy Store - This store has everything from gummi candies to fair trade milk chocolate balls decorated for Halloween. Items here can be more expensive, but there are some candies that aren’t so pricey. For example, you can get about 35 green apple organic lollipops for $6.49. More expensive than safety suckers, I know, but I believe that it’s worth it. They do also have a bulk candy section that may be more in your price range.

Yummy Earth Organic Lollipops – Straight from the website: “Everything YummyEarth makes is USDA and EU certified organic, gluten-free, peanut-free and tree nut-free, and has no type of corn syrup, just fabulous award winning taste!” They are pretty affordable too. You can get a family pack of 60 lollipops for about $8. (*On a side note, I found these at Whole Foods the other day. You can buy them in bulk for $6.99 a pound or for $4.99 for a family pack – the pomegranate pucker is my current favorite!)

Green Halloween – This site has some great ideas of what to give out INSTEAD of candy. If you really want to give out candy, however, they also have some neat suggestions(some are expensive though!).

Fruitabu – I couldn’t help listing these guys. I love this stuff. Where I buy it, it can be fairly expensive, so I went looking to see if I could discover a cheaper way of getting this organic “Smooshed” fruit. Think fruit roll-up, but awesomer. They have fruit flats, fruit rolls, and fruit leathers. Some stores sell them for as much as $.75 a piece, but on their website, you can buy the fruit flats for $15.00 for 30, so there’s a little savings there. I hear that you can also get them cheaper at places like Costco if you have a membership.

Equal Exchange Mini Chocolates – This can also be a little pricey, but you get quite a bit for your money. This Co-op offers fair trade dark chocolate mini bars at $30 for 150 bars. If you search around the web a bit, you might be able to find them cheaper, but this price was taken directly from their site.

There are lots of other choices out there, but most I’ve found are either too expensive for my budget, or they don’t come in packaging that lends itself to handing out the treat to trick-or-treaters. I think one of the best options is to go to whatever store in your town sells the most eco-friendly stuff and see if they have a good offering for Halloween. You will probably be able to find some cheaper choices that way, but these websites will at least get you headed in the right direction!

Casa De Luz

Today Josh and I ventured out to Casa de Luz to do a bit of early morning yoga.  Okay, so it was at 9 a.m. -  but when you get up at 5:30 every morning, 9 on a Sunday does seem early!  The month of September is National Yoga Awareness Month, and one of the members of the Austin Progressive Vegetarians offered to teach a class for us.  The class was awesome!  I was somehow simultaneously both relaxed and energized, and I was able to make it all the way through the class despite my extreme inexperience.  Thank goodness for modifications!

Casa de Luz

I had this image of flexible elegance in my head, but I had managed to set my yoga mat up under a low-branching tree and every upward sweep of my arm sent a shower of dewy droplets onto my face.  Regardless, it was an hour well-spent and I definately felt like I deserved a treat afterwards!

Luckily, Casa de Luz is a community center that offers classes in everything from yoga to meditation to tai chi.  They also have a 100% vegan, deliciously macrobiotic restaurant located on the premisis.

What are macrobiotics you ask?  I’ll show you the definition I swiped straight from the Macrobiotic Guide: “Macrobiotics is an approach to physical and emotional wellness through consuming foods that are balanced energetically (between yin and yang) and nutritionally. It is typically a well-balanced diet with high fibre, low fat, lots of vegetables and grains, vegetable protein, and limited meat, with an emphasis on eating seasonal organic food.”

Open kitchen at Casa de Luz

Dining at Casa de Luz is a one-of-a-kind experience.  It is different from a traditional restaurant in that you don’t order food off a menu.  At lunch for example, you receive a token that you place on the table.  You can then help yourself to salad and soup while you wait and a server will bring out a plate with that day’s offering.  So do you get to pick the food?  No.  But is it awesome?  Yes!

For those who really want to know what’s on the menu in advance, you can check out their daily menus on the Dining page of their website.  I enjoyed being surprised, myself.

Casa de Luz was beautiful and peaceful.  For those of you living in the Austin area, I highly recomming visiting this enchanting community center.

Katie and I ventured out with the Austin Progressive Vegetarian group once more to tackle all that is good and healthy in our fair city. It has been nice meeting new like-minded people and getting a chance to try out some eateries that we might otherwise have overlooked. Cheer Up Charlie’s is a trailer located at 1104 East 6^th Street that serves vegan/raw foods, coconut drinks, and smoothies, as well as handmade raw chocolates.

The owner Tamara fixed us a couple of her signature health drinks; Katie had the Bare Bones and I tried the Bruce Lee. Not only were both a good price at $5 apiece, but they were a dose of energy badly needed mid-week. After the outdoor screening of Fletch, I decided to get a hummus burrito to take home for later.  It was devoured within minutes. The hummus burrito was by far the best thing I had eaten in weeks and it left me craving more. A real treat during the evening was unknowingly standing in line with musical group The Dandy Warhols. The band was headlining at local venue Emo’s that night. Tamara had volunteered to stay open to host their after party and I was welcomed to stay for a late evening.

Cheer Up Charlie’s is open Tuesday and Wednesday from 10am-9pm, Thursday 10am-10pm or later, Friday 10am-midnight or later, and Saturdays 1pm-3am or later. Please keep in mind that they are closed Sunday and Monday for a well-deserved break.

Josh and I are the two vegetarians in our little monkey troop and we are always looking for new places we can eat and like-minded people to eat with!  Recently, we discovered the Austin Progressive Vegetarian group on Meetup.com and found that their next Meetup was at a vegan/raw food spot named Counter Culture.  I had seen a review of this place a few weeks earlier (it opened up July 16, 2009) and thought this was a great opportunity to do two things at once: meet some fellow vegetarians and try out a new food spot!

Counter Culture is a food trailer, so the all the seating is outdoors and we were able to bring Chloe, my bassett hound, along with us.  She usually ends up being the star of the show and this trip was no exception.  When we arrived at Counter Culture, we saw a small group of people gathered around the trailer.  Right away they asked us if we were there for the Meetup and began introducing themselves.  Everybody was kind, friendly, and fun and didn’t seem to mind it when Chloe ran around licking all their toes.

The menu at Counter Culture is varied and extremely affordable, though make sure to bring cash as they do not accept credit cards.  I had a sandwich with cashew cheese, apple slices, and lettuce with a side of curry pasta with zucchini and pumpkin seeds.  Plenty of food, delicious, and only $7 all told.  Josh went for the Philly Seitan and a side of quinoa with mangoes and red peppers.

Behind the trailer two picnic tables were set up and the 20 or so of us that had come out for the meetup squished together and talked about our lives, jobs, etc.  while eating some really tasty food!  Josh and I waited until everybody had ordered and then we went back to talk to the owner, Sue Davis, and asked her if we could take some pictures.

Sue was very friendly and forthcoming about her business.  Counter Culture uses local food whenever possible in order to reduce its dependence on fossil fuels used for transportation.  She is also dedicated to making delicious food that is cruelty free and has over 5 years experience managing kitchens and cooking in Los Angeles, California.

Sue Davis, Chloe, and Josh

As we were getting ready to leave, Josh and I decided to try one of Sue’s raw desserts.  She offers both raw donut holes (for $1 each) or a raw lemon bar ($2).  We asked her which one she reccomended and she suggested that we try them both!  You don’t have to tell me twice.  Both were fresh and delicious, and very refreshing on a somewhat muggy day.

It was fun to be able to go and get a good, healthy, inexpensive meal and then to be able to sit outside and enjoy it.  Even if you are not a vegetarian and get scared off by words like “seitan”, there are plenty of comfort foods there for the squeamish like delicious quesadillas.

For you Austinites, look for the pretty blue trailer located at the corner of 120 East North Loop and Avenue F.  We promise, you won’t be disappointed!