Georgetown’s Hook offers a chic, modern, gallery-like space serving 100 percent sustainable seafood.

WASHINGTON, DC - If the idea of a “green” restaurant conjures visions of waiters in hemp necklaces, cardboard menus and patchouli incense burning in the corner, think again.

At Hook Restaurant in Georgetown, you might not guess you’re in an eco-friendly dining room: You’ll enjoy a chic, modern, gallery-like space while savoring 100 percent sustainable seafood. From Equinox and Citronelle to new kid on the block Peacock Grande Café, restaurants around Washington are making waves by going green.

The average American meal has a shockingly large carbon footprint, usually traveling 1,500 miles to the plate and emitting large amounts of CO2 in the process, according to the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture. Each meal created produces 275 pounds of waste a day, making restaurants the worst aggressors of greenhouse gas emissions in retail industry, says the Boston-based Green Restaurant Association, a non-profit organization that works to create an ecologically sustainable restaurant industry.

Local restaurants are now trying to make a dent in those numbers. At Equinox in downtown D.C., chef-owner Todd Gray only plates his meals with local products (within 100 miles when possible), reducing the emissions that would otherwise result from long distance food travel. Restaurant Nora (the first ever certified organic restaurant in America) and Citronelle also utilize local farms.

And of course, eateries’ use of local farms is quite the political issue. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has turned the Congressional House Office Building cafeterias from those of random fare into offering wide selections of organic food grown within 150 miles of the Capitol.

Hook’s executive chef, Barton Seaver, brings eco-friendly to the next level when he cooks. He partners with local farms for 97 percent of his dishes and delivers sustainable seafood to his guests as well. According to Maggie Parcells, assistant to Executive Chef Seaver, “sustainable seafood” refers to everything from the highly selective fishing method of hand-lining to ensuring the catch is far from endangered. Down to the details, a handy guide to ocean friendly fare is distributed upon your departure. Who knew Atlantic cod has been victim to decades of over fishing and their habitat all but destroyed by bottom trawling? Hook prides itself on other green methods as well, including utilization of green energy from wind power, going paper towel-free, and using non-toxic cleaning products.

Some other Washington-area favorites like CakeLove and JavaGreen have taken similar steps, partnering with Clean Currents, a local clean energy broker, to go “off-the-grid” with wind or solar power. While these efforts would give them an A by GRA standards, many aren’t chomping at the bit to belong.

“We’re not doing it for the trend or recognition,” says Parcells. “We do it because we believe in it.”

And not many can say that with as much credibility as Chef Nora Pouillon of Restaurant Nora, who was recently quoted in The Washington Post saying “[Greening the restaurants] is a wonderful thing for awareness. But we’ve been doing these things for years.”

In the end, many restaurants believe moving in an ecologically friendly direction ultimately makes the most business sense. Sue Hensley at the National Restaurant Association says that in an era of ever growing cost pressures and energy expenses, “It’s really about sustainable business growth.”

A recent NRA study shows utility costs are a big line item for restaurateurs, accounting for a median of between 2.3 percent and 3.6 percent of sales, depending on the type of operation. Recognizing this fact, the NRA has established a Green Task Force and plans to launch its Serve and Conserve initiative in March. This new resource, soon to be accessible online, will be a helpful tool for restaurant owners across the country like Tom Holland, the man behind D.C.’s Juice Joint Café, who contends that “the system makes it hard to be green.”

Passionately behind the idea of eco-friendly methods, Holland finds it hard to realize these practices running a corner-side restaurant with a small kitchen and limited storage space. While he has taken the first steps by retrofitting his restaurant to be 100 percent compact fluorescent, educating his employees on best practices (including a trash audit) and implementing a basic recycling program, he still has a ways to go before realizing the green standards he ardently wants to achieve.

George Velazquez, owner of the new Napa 1015, set along D.C.’s up and coming H Street corridor, faces the same obstacles as Holland. While he is dedicated to greening and forgoes tablecloths to do his part, Velazquez says he would like to do more in the future once his restaurant gets off its feet. Bottles and paper are currently recycled and bread is purchased from the nearby farmers market on occasion, but he sees room to grow in the future whether it’s through solar powered energy or other methods being considered. Ultimately, at this point in time, it is harder for the little guy to go green.

With no one-size-fits-all solution, it is obvious restaurants around town are taking different approaches. At the recently-opened Peacock Grande Café on K St., owner Maziar Farivar stocks his kitchen with free-range chicken and gluten-free beers. Peacock Grand’s hospitality consultant, Daniel Mahdavin, says their recycling program is highly efficient and they are “considering solar power.”

It seems many consumers are willing to pay more for environmentally friendly food. According to Zagat’s 2007 America’s Top Restaurants, 65 percent of surveyors said they would pay more for food that has been sustainably raised or procured. According to 2007 National Restaurant Association research, 62 percent of adults said they would likely choose a restaurant based on its environmental friendliness.

And so if the people will follow the local goods, then there can be a business advantage there for restaurateurs. Sweetgreen, a recently opened cafe in Georgetown, was recently added to the GRA’s list of certified green restaurants. In order to become certified, each member must use a comprehensive recycling system for all products, be free of Styrofoam, and commit to completing four environmental steps, set by GRA, per year of membership, such as use of energy efficient light bulbs or water saving toilets. With Sweetgreen’s biodegradable forks and spoons, bowls made of corn based material, and energy-efficient wiring, the restaurant lives up to GRA standards. Le Pain Quotidien, another local hot spot known for its enviro-friendliness — it features a 39-seat table made from vintage train cars — has become Sweetgreen’s local partner on the GRA certified list.

While going green may prove to have its difficulties, restaurants across the country and especially outside our front door here in the District of Columbia are realizing not only the environmental benefits, but the economic perks of the next chapter in our dining lifestyle: a green meal, inside and out.