Certifiably Green Denver is conducting a pilot with nine restaurants in the Highland neighborhood to address food waste. The four-fold approach includes:

Prevention: Each restaurant will adopt one food waste prevention strategy to try for the duration of the pilot

Donation:  We Don’t Waste will pick up donatable food from restaurants three times per week as needed and will redistribute it to organizations that can provide meals for those in need.

Compost: Each restaurant will be provided with free compost service for the duration of the pilot, along with staff training, signage, interior bins and compostable liners.

Measure: Certifiably Green Denver will conduct waste audits for each restaurant at the beginning and end of the pilot to measure the impact that the abovementioned measures have on their food waste diversion.

Participants:

Ale House

Ash’Kara

Bar Dough

The Bindery

Black Eye Coffee

Little Man Ice Cream

Ohana Island Kitchen

Uncle

Wooden Spoon Cafe & Bakery

Special thanks to our partners:

NRDC

Alpine Waste & Recycling

Eat Denver

Edible Beats- Root Down

Scraps

We Don’t Waste

1.  Assess: We offer free, personalized assessments from sustainability experts that identify the best opportunities for businesses to become more efficient and less wasteful.
2.  Plan: We create actionable plans that remove guesswork and headache from implementation while finding ways to maximize cost savings.
3.  Connect: We connect you to the resources you need to successfully implement sustainable practices.
4.  Certify: We'll certify your business to make you more marketable to employees and customers alike.
5.  Promote: We won't create a Super Bowl commercial for you, but we will include your business in our Certifiably Green Denver advertising and publicity efforts.

Here's how we'll make you more sustainable:

• Energy Efficiency: We'll help you identify easy changes to reduce your energy use such as reprogramming thermostats, managing equipment, installing LED lighting, which remains the most cost-effective improvement, and more.
• Water Conservation: A few simple tweaks can save thousands of gallons a year. We'll help you switch to low-flow toilets, install sink aerators and more.
• Resource Management: We'll show you a few things you can do to reduce waste, green your purchasing practices, and set up successful recycling systems.
• Alternative Transportation: Encouraging your employees and customers to walk, bike, and take public transportation will not only make them happier, it'll make out air cleaner too.
• Business Management: We'll help you verify that you are compliant with all acceptable environmental standards, engage your workforce to continue improving your environmental and social impacts, and publicize your accomplishments.

DaVita (Case Study PDF) - Transportation

Seattle Fish Company (Case Study PDF) - Water

Fire on the Mountain (Case Study PDF) - Restaurant

Wynkoop Dental (Case Study PDF) - Dental Office

Snooze (Case Study PDF) -Restaurant

Headlines Salon (Case Study PDF) - Salon

Green Garage (Case Study PDF) - Auto Shop

Postmodern (Case Study PDF) - Energy Loans

Hooked on Colfax (Case Study PDF) -Restaurant/Cafe

The City and County of Denver does not endorse or recommend any third party product, or service.

Certifiably Green Denver has worked with a broad range of business sectors and has developed certifications for most. Here are some examples of certification checklists for a sampling of sectors:

• Auto Repair (PDF)
• Brewery (PDF)
  
• Events (PDF) 
• Office/Retail (PDF)
• Print Shops (PDF) 
• Restaurant (PDF)

Don't see your business sector listed here? Contact us!

Resources for all Businesses:

Business Management:

• Anti-idling Policy
• Environmental Management System
• Metrics Reporting Worksheet
• Noise Regulations for Events and Festivals
• Writing an Environmental Policy

Energy Efficiency:

• Lighting Retrofit Guide
• Power Strips

Resource Management:

• Cleaning Products
• Composting
• Environmentally Preferable Purchasing
• Fluorescent Lamp Recycling
• Recycled Paper
• Recycling and Zero Waste
• Hard to Recycle Items
• Waste Audit Form

Water Conservation:

• Commercial Restrooms
• De-icer
• Pressure Washing Service Agreement
• Stormwater Protection

Restaurant Resources:

• Composting
• Kitchen Equipment Preventative Maintenance
• Pre-Rinse Spray Valves
• Restaurant Purchasing
• Restaurant Waste Reduction
• Restaurant Equipment
• Water Upon Request Signage

PACE Financing

Colorado Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy (C-PACE) is a new financing program for commercial, industrial, agricultural, non-profit and multifamily properties that enables building owners to finance 100 percent of eligible energy efficiency, renewable energy and water conservation improvements with repayment terms of up to 20 years.

Repayment is facilitated through the County property tax assessment process. Visit copace.com to learn more

CertifiablyGreenDenver@Denvergov.org

Sign up for our email newsletter

Best for Colorado is a statewide initiative led by a coalition of 30 businesses and government groups, including the City and County of Denver, that invites all Colorado companies to strive to be the best for Colorado's workers, commuities, and the environment. 

The landmark program kicked off in May of 2017, and is asking 500 Colorado copanies to complete the Best for Colorado Challenge by December 11, 2017. 

The Best for Colorado Challenge is a free, online tool that helps businesses learn what is best pracitce - best business practice in creating higher quality jobs, stronger communities, and preseving hte environment. Once businesses complete the Challenge, the tool shows how they compare to other companies regarding these practices and provides pointers on how to improve.

For more information, visit www.BestForColorado.net.