Dine out to Support Clean Air

Want to do something easy to help support sustainable initiatives in Pennsylvania? On October 12, choose from a list of participating restaurants that will donate up to 30% of their day’s sales to the Clean Air Council, Philadelphia’s oldest environmental nonprofit.

It’s the fourth year the organization has held the Dine out for the Environment fundraiser which attracts more restaurants each year These restaurants, who apply to participate through the Clean Air Council’s online form, make sustainable practices—like using nontoxic cleaners, maintaining a kitchen garden and recycling—a part of their business model. “We want to make sustainability something to think about when you’re going out to eat,” says Bobby Szafranski, Clean Air Council’s special events director.

Earth Bread and Brewery in Mount Airy has been a restaurant partner from the beginning. The restaurant uses alternative energy for electricity, purchases ingredients from eco-friendly businesses like Bobolink Dairy, Primal Supply Meats and Weavers Way Farm and recycles food waste via Bennett Compost.

Peggy Zwerver cofounder of both Earth Bread and Brewery and Fairmount’s Bar Hygge, says that both businesses’ goal is to waste as little as possible. “ Both restaurants have breweries, so spent grain is a big part of our waste stream,” she says. “We drive that up to Saul Agricultural High School [in Roxborough] and they use that as a mixture in feed for their livestock, or it goes on the compost pile.” Zwerver estimates that 75% of the restaurants’ waste is either recycled or composted.

Go to cleanair.org/dineoutfortheenvironment to see the full list of participating restaurants. —KR