Green Restaurants in San Jose

If you’re thinking about eating out, why not choose a green restaurant today in celebration of Earth Day. According to the Bay Area Green Business Program, these local businesses are considered green because they changed their business practices in order to reduce their carbon footprint.  Like Bella Mia, each restaurant on this list is helping to “prevent pollution, minimize waste, and conserve energy, water, and other resources” (http://www.greenbiz.ca.gov/ShopGreen.html). Their choice to become a green restaurant was an active step towards the mitigation of climate change.

Celebrate Earth Day by showing them your support.

San Jose
Bella Mia	58 S. First Street	408/280-1993
Chacho’s	18 S. Almaden Avenue	408/293-1387
Chow Ciao Café	20 N. Almaden Avenue	408/292-7096
Gordon Biersch	33 E. San Fernando Street	408/294-6785
Guckenheimer @ BD Bio 2 Qume	2222 Qume Drive	408/954-2534
Guckenheimer @ Altera	101 Innovation Drive, Bldg. 3	650/631-5187
Guckenheimer @ Baytech Bistro	150 Baytech Dr.	408/935-3416
International Vegetarian House	520 E. Santa Clara St.	408/292-3798
La Taqueria	15 S. First Street	408/287-1542
Laurel’s Delights	60 N. First Street	408/292-5211
Moorpark Park Bar & Grill	4241 Moorpark Ave.	408/846-0361

Consumption- the using up of a resource; something we all do way too much of.

How many times have you replaced something that still works perfectly fine? Everyone wants to look cool with the newest iPhone or Macbook Pro, but is it really necessary? There is so much more that goes in to the products we buy besides the physical parts that they are made out of. Ever wonder where all of the stuff we buy comes from or what happens to it when we throw it away?
One element of our consumer driven culture that fuels the fire is planned obsolescence. This is a manufacturers process of making a product become useless or not functional over time or use so that the consumer has to purchase more of their stuff. This can be done by companies introducing new technology that replaces the previous, making it obsolete. Perceived obsolescence is much like planned obsolescence where a product only lasts a specific amount of time. But with perceived obsolescence, the product is still functional and usable. Examples of this would be clothing companies coming out with new styles or electronics featuring different colors, designs, or models.
(www.storyofstuff.com) Here is a short film talking about the real costs of our over consumption. It covers the extraction of resources, production, distribution, consumption, and disposal of products.