It will be interesting to see if this business is viable in the long term.

Of course, if they really wanted to reduce their impact they wouldn't serve meat and cheese. I am always disappointed that Treehugger doesn't regularly discuss the huge negative impact that the meat and dairy industries have on the environment. I know that it occasionally makes a post or two, but if we could even just significantly reduce the number of people eating meat, the conservation of resources would be enormous, in my opinion the concept should have some kind of coverage every day.
=== author's response follows ====
Your's parallel comments we get from many others. It's a tough editorial choice to make however, as, for example, we don't wish to alienate those on low carb diets, people who must eat some red meat as a source of dietary iron (more common than you may realize), organic meat producers, and so on. Further complexity arises from consideration of what should be included in a vegetarian diet. Think soy production is good for the rainforest? Is GM soy acceptable? Being judgmental in absolutes is not our preference. Pointing out ways to improve on any dietary input choice is.

Perhaps it would have been helpful if we had clipped the vegetarian menu section for the pic!

This is a great idea! But it'll be a long time before they can come up to Canada...:

I wasn't being judgmental at all, I was just suggesting I'd like to see more coverage in general of vegetarianism as an option for leaning green. There is no doubt that meat production is much more environmentally impacting and resource-intensive than plant farming. There are other sources for dietary iron. Soy is not a 1-to-1 replacer for meat in a highly carnivorous diet (personally I don't eat much of the stuff, don't like much of it), going herbivore is about changing the WAY you eat, not just switching one thing for another. Atkins doesn't require meat and cheese to work--high protein, high fat, high fiber, low carb can be found in many ways by the industrious (it is just easier for the lazy to make it work with meat and cheese). GM is bad, organic rules, eat local, eat fresh, eat green.

Yes, this place beats the pants off of Papa Johns and I am all about greening as much as possible where possible. But I sometimes, just every once in a while, wonder if the TreeHugger advertiser-friendly, don't make anyone mad, you-can-consume-with-conscience approach is the way to really inform people about how to reduce their impact or if it is just another way to make people feel better about how they take their place in a broken system.

I am very glad to see that they offer casein-free soy cheese as an option at this restaurant, that is incredibly thoughtful. The real secret is that a truly well-made pizza is fantastic with NO cheese at all on it, I think soy cheese is pretty foul.

Anyway, thanks for listening, I'm sorry if I came off as a zealot, that wasn't my intention, I just think there is a good message that gets pushed aside here a lot in the name of trying to be all-inclusive. I'm not saying I'd even want it to be done in any kind of a pushy way, I'd just like to see it discussed even more often.

=== author's response follows ====
Very well said.

I'm hoping we could match those expectations.

I totally believe in this concept. People are more and more self conscious of environmental problems and are now looking for an alternative.

You folks need to green a pizzeria more than just the items on the menu.

I work in such a place and I can tell you it is about as environmentally friendly as a 5 semi trucks running daily.
First you have water usage, Electricity to prep, Natural Gas to cook, OIl Based gas to deliver the food, then there is the trash. My store can fill a dumpster up in about two days.

Now Imagine the amount of waste produced by a store that has wrappers and pouches to put their food in.

If any industry needed to be greened up a bunch it is the Food industry.

So my comment is Green it up some more!
D~W

I'm not sure if it was the first, but it is definitely not the only pizza place out there like it.

There's one in Minneapolis, MN called Galactic Pizza

The following from their website;
* Weather permitting, our food is delivered to your door by 100% electric vehicles.
* All of the power purchased to run our restaurant is renewable wind energy.
* All of our mozzarella cheese comes from cows not treated with rBGH growth hormones.
* We have incoporated a number of organic items into the menu.
* We have the Second Harvest Heartland pizza, where $1 is donated to this hunger relief organization every time the pizza is ordered.
* We strive to use packaging that is either made from recycled materials, or is 100% biodegradable.
* We incorporate hemp products into each menu category, and print our menu on hemp paper. Hemp is not only good for you, it is also very good for the Earth.
* In season, we try to purchase all of our produce from farms here in Minnesota or in nearby Wisconsin.
* We have an in depth waste reduction program utilizing pig farms for food waste and recycling whenever possible.
* 5% of our after tax profits are donated to charity.

Thanks for everyone's kind words and honest input. We are doing as much as we can at this stage and we are learning new and greener ways to run our business. From Spudware forks and knives, to all of our cups and salad containers using materials derived from corn. All of our menus are printed on 100% post consumer and alternative fiber products and are free of chlorine as well. We purchase renewable energy certificates to offset 100% of the power of all stores and our corporate offices.

We do not serve any Coca-Cola or Pepsi products, only Boylan's Natural Sodas and other Organic juices. We recycle and use recycled goods. We are going for our QAI Organic Restaurant certification soon as well.

We have founded a "Green Business Network", teach kids Organics class once a month at all of our stores and are always donating, time, money, resources, food, and waste to every possible cause that we can.

I really hope other people take ANY step to making their business model more earth-friendly. ANYTHING makes a difference and we should applaud the good they attempt to do as opposed to the one thing that is on people's podium list!

I'm sure there are a MILLION additional things that can be done and it's my personal mission to continue to educate myself and our organization.

Again... thanks to everyone for their support!

I want to thank Sarda Sahney for making the comment about veganism. I was feeling this frustration just today, when I saw a Simple Shoes ad on this site. They advertise that they are making their shoes out of recycled tires and eco-friendly fabrics. Their logo is "Shoes for a happy planet."

Apparently Simple doesn't believe this planet includes animals, because I was disappointed to find that their shoes are still leather. I wrote them a letter and expressed my disappointment.

As disappointed as I am that Simple uses leather, I am more disappointed that this isn't an egregious contradiction obvious instantly to anyone who sees they sell animal products.

While I am all for and totally understanding of the importance of not alienating anyone for their efforts just because those efforts aren't optimal (you cannot exist without creating a carbon debt of some sort in our society), I think we have a responsiblity to get the word out. Make the honest associations. Let's talk about it! Even if advertisers might not like it.

And yes, the vegan diet may not solve all the problems, but it does make a huge impact. We (as in the environmentally-conscious) are all only doing the best we can, but we all have a responsibility to do the best we can.

So, Treehugger, consider this my two cents for including more references and making more associations with the benefits of animal free consumerism.

There's a great pizza restaurant focused on sustainable business here in Portland, OR called "Hot Lips Pizza". They too drive small hybrid cars, buy seasonal organic food to support local augriculture, and are constantly working to measure and reduce "food miles". They are a great family run and local business, and no, I odn't work for them, and am not related to anyone who works there. It's just another one of the many delicious places for those of us to go who want to make conscios-pizza-eating decisions.

Josie