Chipotle Dishes Up Green Stuff

Date: October 31, 2008 | Category: Featured, Food, Food & Drink, Lifestyle

Fast food is often a dirty word in the eco world given the “mystery meat” they commonly serve, the pervasive smell of fresh VOC’s (at least, I think that is the smell) and the massive amount of waste they produce.

Chipotle Mexican Grill is looking to change all that by expanding on its existing green practices to create products and restaurants that are beneficial to both its patron and the environment. From a local produce program, to cooking with sustainable meats, to building restaurants that qualify for LEED certification, the chain hopes to take the bellyache out of fast food.

Chipotle currently serves only humanely raised meats in its 800 restaurants, making it the largest buyer of such omnivorous delights (according to the company’s spokesperson). The chain is also committed to serving only hormone-free milk and dairy and is currently serving beans that are 80 percent organic. In addition, Chipotle participates in a local produce program, in which produce - like lettuce, peppers and onions - is purchased in season from local farmers.

Chipotle’s latest venture into the world of green dining? They are building a restaurant in Gurnee, Illinois with a six-kilowatt wind turbine on-site that will generate 10 percent of the restaurant’s electrical needs. The building will also use recycled drywall and barn metals, use eco-friendly paints, and will include a 2,500 gallon underground water cistern that will harvest rainwater to irrigate the landscape of native plants outside the building.

Chipotle will seek LEED certification for the new restaurant, which would make it among the first LEED-certified restaurants in the country. Sort of makes you crave a burrito, doesn’t it?

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