NEW YORK — The national non-profit Green Restaurant Association (GRA) and the New York State Restaurant Association (NYSRA) have announced their official partnership in greening New York's restaurants.
With GRA's 19 years as the industry standard for Certified Green Restaurants and with NYSRA providing leadership for New York state restaurants for more than 70 years, this partnership is the most significant move to date in helping to create an environmentally sustainable restaurant industry.
The partnership between GRA and NYSRA was facilitated through the efforts of Gov. David A. Paterson's Green Hospitality & Tourism initiative to coordinate green certification and additional assistance for hospitality industry businesses in the Empire State. The effort is being led by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. Other organizations participating include:
- New York State Hospitality and Tourism Association
- I Love NY (New York State Tourism Office)
- New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets
- New York State Department of Labor
- New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation
- New York State Energy Research & Development Authority
- New York State Pollution Prevention Institute
"The New York State Restaurant Association is very proud of our partnership with the Green Restaurant Association," says Andrew Rigie, NYSRA director of operations. "We want to provide our members with the legitimate solutions to make it easy for them to go green. We find that restaurants need the expertise, service, experience, and customized solutions that the GRA offers."
Restaurants are responsible for the largest consumption of energy in the retail sector, and New York is the restaurant capital of the world, making it the focal point to create sustainability in the restaurant industry worldwide. This partnership will ensure that every day more and more restaurants are going green.
"We have found a sincere partner (in the New York State Restaurant Association) who wants to make it easy for their members to go green in the easiest and most comprehensive manner," said Michael Oshman, executive director and founder of GRA. "NYSRA is the first state association to affirm its commitment to greening its state's restaurants by partnering with the GRA."
Components of the partnership include:
1. Facilitate the GRA's Green Restaurant 4.0 Standards program to NYSRA members
2. GRA to provided educational resources to NYSRA's website, newsletters, etc.
3. Green some of NYSRA internal operations
4. Provide a preferred rate to NYSRA members for GRA's consulting and certification services
