Green Daily

Some are doing it to save money, others because they believe in it, but there's no doubt about it -- the green restaurant movement is picking up steam. The number of restaurants sporting unbleached napkins, hybrid delivery vehicles, and solar panels is on the rise nation wide -- but it's not all just to the save the rain forest. The cost of running a wasteful business is making restaurant owners look at going green in a new light.

With fuel and energy costs on the rise, many restaurants are finding that going eco-friendly just make good business sense. Shopping for local ingredients cuts down on shipping costs while reducing your eatery's carbon footprint. Reusing your grease to fuel up your company's biodiesel fleet -- hey that's just free gas! Cities like Boston, Los Angeles and Santa Monica each have city-wide food waste composting programs, so it's easier than ever.

Another benefit of greening you business is being able to cash in on the hot trend that is the green movement. As Jason Birnbaum, owner of Doc Green's Gourmet Salads & Grill in Austin puts it, "if they like our food and know we're green they may choose us."

For all these reasons, making eco-friendly choices when you go out to eat is no longer limited to hummus and tabbouleh. You might even be surprised to find that next time you go to your favorite burger joint, the grease from your locally grown french fries is soaking into a recycled cardboard tray.