Eat your greens

The Denver/Boulder area is seeing an increase in restaurants that are going green not only on the menu, but behind the scenes and their kitchens. Listed below are a few of our favorites:

Mercury Café

2199 California St. / Denver
Phone: 303-294-9281
www.mercurycafe.com

The Mercury has been serving up some of Denver’s best vegetarian dishes for years. Continuing their progressive development, the Mercury Café is in the process of installing 12 more solar panels on the roof, along with more wind turbines. Eventually the Mercury hopes to go off-the-grid, becoming a self-powered establishment. Ninety-nine percent of the menu’s meals are made from local, organic food. Additionally, Mercury hires staff from neighborhoods in close proximity to the restaurant. This way, the Mercury establishes its locality and further reduces its carbon footprint by minimizing employee travel.

Swimclub32

3628 West 32nd Ave. / Denver
Phone: 720.889.7946
www.swimclub32.com

Swimclub32 is 100 percent wind-powered from a plant in Golden. Green elements are infused throughout the interior, such as wood flooring and tabletops that come from sustainable resources and fair trade operations. Food served to patrons is sourced from local farmers and food producers nationwide who eliminate pesticides and herbicides from their growing methods. And, the restaurant serves wine and sake from small artisans who use biodynamic and organic ingredients to create the highest quality handcrafted beverages.

The Kitchen

1309 Pearl St. / Boulder
Phone: 303-544-5973
www.thekitchencafe.com

The Kitchen’s menu promotes the use of local and artisanal products, which are pesticide free and use organic and bio-dynamic methods. The business has also made a point to furnish and decorate the restaurant with reused and recycled building materials. The kitchen is composting all of its organic waste with Eco-Cycle and uses 100 percent compostable, sugar-cane based “to go” containers and corn-based plastics for “to go” cutlery. In addition, the restaurant collects and recycles all of its used cooking oils for bio-diesel.

WATERCOURSE FOODS

837 E. 17th Ave. / Denver, CO 80218
Phone: 303-832-7313
www.watercoursefoods.com
Watercourse maintains a completely vegetarian menu and adheres to strict recycling practices, including recycling fryer oil into bio-diesel. Patrons take home leftovers in completely biodegradable containers. Water is served only upon request. The best part – bike riders receive 10 percent discounts.