Going Green

Last year we joined the Green Restaurant Association and became the first Certified Green Restaurant in Philadelphia. Now we are in our second year with the GRA, and we're in the process of deciding which environmental steps we're going to take this year to improve the sustainability of our store.

In brief, some of our sustainable accomplishments of the past year consist of energy reduction, water reduction, air quality improvements, and the recycling and upcycling of waste products. We also switched to biodegradable eco-friendly cups, plates and cutlery.

Check out some of the coverage we received from Philly Biz Journal, Fast Casual Magazine and CBS.

For this year, we have already started our Recycle and Save program and are anxiously awaiting new ideas to incorporate into the Pita Pit. Hopefully, by the end of the year, we will have some sort of composting process incorporated into the store. If you have been to the store and there is something that you would like to see, please let us know.

After joining the association, we thought that many other restaurants would follow suit, however, to our astonishment, no other restaurants have joined. In NY and Cali, hundreds of restaurants are actively involved with the association and are committed to incorporating sustainable practices into their restaurants. For some reason, Philly is behind the eight ball. Mayor Nutter's Green Works Philadelphia is pushing Philly to become the "greenest city in America" and with restaurants being a huge attraction here, there should be some correlation. By know means are we calling for some government mandate, however, we're sure customers want to see their favorite restaurants be more sustainable. Most of the changes that we made throughout the store were easy, inexpensive, and smart. We don't think that our steps at the Pita Pit will create a huge impact themselves, but collectively, we can make real progress in the city. The negatives of going green in the restaurant industry have yet to be seen.