• AIR’s Green Efforts

    AIR has recently formed the Green Team to bring education and environmentally friendly practices to our members. Kevin Westmoreland from the Corner Kitchen in chairing this effort. Photo: The Green Team Formation. Left to right: Randy Talley, the Green Sage; Rosetta Star, Rosetta’s Kitchen; Kevin Westmoreland, The Corner Kitchen; and Roya June, former AIR Executive Director. Not pictured: Treavis Taylor, fig.

    The following went out as a Press Release:
    ASHEVILLE (March 13, 2009) – The Asheville Independent Restaurant Association formed the AIR Green Team to take the lead on educating their restaurant members on sustainability initiatives. They held their first meeting at the Green Sage on March 10, 2009. Its members include Committee Chairperson, Kevin Westmoreland from the Corner Kitchen, Randy Talley from the Green Sage, and Rosetta Star from Rosetta’s Kitchen and Treavis Taylor from fig. The committee will focus on bringing green “sustainability” education to AIR members. As the Chairperson of the new initiative, Kevin Westmoreland explained his vision, “I want to help the other independent restaurant owners in AIR find ways to recycle waste, reduce energy, and become greener businesses and ideally do it in a revenue neutral way. In some instances at the Corner Kitchen, we have reduced our waste and also reduced our costs and that really makes me happy, especially in this economy.”

    The committee set up roles for each of its members. Mr. Westmoreland will select and send educational materials to the AIR members via their bi-weekly member newsletter, the AIRegram. Rosetta Star will serve as AIR’s “Green Products Review” person. She will be researching and testing products of interest to fellow restaurant owners. Randy Talley will be the AIR “point person” who will liaison with other local green initiatives and overseeing the new “Green AIR” webpage on www.AIRasheville.org with links to green restaurant-related initiatives. As noted by Mr. Talley “The Green Sage, Coffeehouse & Café was conceived to be a model sustainable restaurant. We made hundreds of decisions considering the ecological, economic and social implications. Installing the first solar panels on a downtown restaurant is probably the most visible of our decisions. We are delighted to serve AIR members and the greater Asheville community by sharing information and resources related to the greening of a business.”

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