Green Crown Program

Charlotte's Green Crown

Did you know?

120 Billion disposable cups are used by American each year
500 million straws used per day
98% of delivery/takeout meals are consumed at home or at work where reusable cutlery is available
Americans use 500 million drinking straws every day
40 billion plastic knives, forks and spoons are disposed of in one year and are used for less than 15 minutes
In the US, the restaurant industry generates about 11.4 million tons of food waste annually at a cost of roughly $25 billion every year

Charlotte's Green Crown is a citywide voluntary and free program that shines a spotlight on eating and drinking establishments in the restaurant and beverage industry implementing environmentally sustainable practices. Complementing the city's larger sustainability and resilience strategy, Green Crown businesses demonstrate their commitment to the environment through four main categories:

Waste Management, Energy and Water Conservation, Pollution Reduction, Commitment to the Community.

Meet our 2022-2023 certified Green Crown eating and drinking establishments:

3 CROWNS

Birdsong Brewing

Birdsong was founded in 2011 with a quest for better beer and a five-gallon soup kettle. Our vision is similar to many of our favorite craft brewing mentors who inspired us to open our own brewery: We strive to create outstanding beer, have a low impact on the environment, and create personal relationships and ties to the local community. Beloved by locals and sought-after by fans across the Carolinas, the 30-barrel brewhouse and taproom in the Belmont neighborhood embodies the #CanDoWillDo philosophy behind what Birdsong brews, thinks and believes. Charlotte’s third oldest brewery is the first in the Queen City to embrace solar power, installing a 70-kilowatt array for the roof of the brewery in 2018.

Going Solar-

As a mid-size distributing brewery, we consume a large amount of power for HVAC, walk-in coolers, glycol chiller, air compressors, etc. Our goal was to cut our power bill by 40%. So far, we have generated 108.42 MWh since installation. The environmental benefits so far: CO2 Emission Saved: 623,000 lbs and Equivalent Trees Planted: 4,705.

Birdsong Green Team Mission Statement-

Our goal at Birdsong Brewing is to facilitate and continue environmentally friendly initiatives that help sustain our business, our community, and the environment. Through educating our staff and customers on our current and upcoming initiatives, we can become environmental stewards for our community. These goals will be met by creating clear guidelines for our staff and holding each staff member accountable for their actions as they relate to our Green Team Goals. We aim to continue and improve upon our current environmentally friendly actions through the use of solar panels, our bi-annual creek clean up and extensive water conservation efforts.

Fonta Flora

"With a longstanding passion for local agriculture, a primary focus of our business has been supporting local farms and local malt houses. Each year, we purchase over 250,000 pounds of locally grown and malted grains for our beers. That number alone represents literally hundreds of thousands of dollars in the pockets of local farmers and producers."

Todd Boera, Co-Founder

Haymaker

Haymaker is a sustainable LEED Silver building. The restaurant is led by Chef & Owner William Dissen. Haymaker brings a Southern and Appalachian philosophy to cooking in a modern restaurant, with a firm belief in sustainability in all aspects of a restaurant from reducing waste to sustainable operations to preservation of the seasons. Haymaker opens onto Romare Bearden Park overlooking the park and with views of the city and the Charlotte Knights Baseball Stadium. We focus on seasonal farm to table fare sourcing from the best local farmers and sustainable seafood purveyors.

Lenny Boy Brewing

NoDa Brewing Co., a family owned and operated brewery, has been a staple in the Charlotte brewing space since 2011. Since day one they have always strived to create a strong community environment and reduce their impact on the environment. As they've grown their production and distribution this has become even more important. NoDa Brewing Co. takes intentional steps at reducing their impact at each part of their business, for example, in the brew house all of their spent grain and hops are donated to local farmers to be used as feed, they have shifted their packaging to use nearly 100% recyclable materials, and in 2022 they have partnered with the Innovation Barn to conduct a full audit of their facility and further implement solutions to reduce waste and increase recyclables. While NoDa Brewing Co. acknowledges they still have room for growth, they are excited to continue making progress towards one of their core fundamentals of "leaving it better than we found it."

The Loyalist Market

The Loyalist Market is a cut-to-order cheese and charcuterie shop in historic Downtown Matthews, NC, highlighting local artisanal producers, farmers, wineries, and breweries. We are passionate food lovers interested in elevating our local community through memorable food experiences. At any given time, we carry about 40 artisanal cheeses and 20 styles of charcuterie with a focus on local and regional producers.

We've made it a priority to do our best in protecting the environment in a myriad of ways. All of our to-go containers and bags are either compostable or recyclable paper. We only offer "straws" on request, and we've ditched conventional plastic straws for hollow pasta noodles. Our lighting is all energy efficient LEDs, our toilets are low-flow, and our sinks are motion activated. We encourage a walkable and bikable downtown, and have a bike rack installed near our front door. In our market, we highlight over 60 local producers, committing ourselves to supporting vendors close to us where distribution and delivery are kept to a minimum, including all of our breads which come from Nova's Bakery in Plaza Midwood. Recently, we began offering pop-up markets in our pocket park where small business owners display their goods, free of charge from us. We also welcome local high school students to internship with us, and help teach them more about the local cheese and food movement.

Owned by Christopher Sottile, his passion for cheese, charcuterie, and authentic food has provided a much needed outlet for Matthews and all of South Charlotte for a truly unique and educational experience since 2017.

Mariposa

Spanish for butterfly, Mariposa signifies change, evolution, growth and sustainability. Our new dining experience at the Mint Museum Uptown, invites diners & guests to share conversations about culinaria & cultures. Mariposa is a space for renewed connection between friends old and new through a shared enjoyment of local ingredients as well as foods from across the world. Come, sit, invite friends & share stories around the table as you watch the Charlotte cityscape from our Uptown perch.

Noda Brewing Company

Pasta and Provisions

Pasta & Provisions has been a staple of the culinary scene in Charlotte for the past 26 years. Husband and wife founders, Tommy & Debbie George along with their son and GM, Dylan George are committed to sustainability and reduction of waste. We use local suppliers for many of our products and we sell a number of locally produced products as well. We offer paper straws, compostable cutlery for take out, reusable plates and dinnerware for eat in. We recycle all of our cardboard, plastic, bottles, cans and grease. As part of the upfit of our stores, we reused rafters from the building that were milled for use as flooring, and through Carolina Urban Lumber, we have recycled lumber in use at all of our stores as countertops, tables and shelving. We have LED lighting in all stores and low flow toilets. We encourage our customers to bring their own bags and we offer a discount for folks if they bring in their own container for refilling with our pasta sauces. We have bike racks and offer discounts to bike riders through the Bicycle Benefits program.

Smelly Cat Coffeehouse & Roastery

OUR MISSION IS TO INSPIRE VALUE IN COWORKERS AND CUSTOMERS EVERYDAY THROUGH THE MEDIUM OF QUALITY CRAFTED COFFEE & FOOD.

For more than 20 years, Smelly Cat Coffee has been serving Charlotte and looking for new ways to bring quality with a conscience.

OUR RECENT DECISION TO BE ZERO TRASH (OR DARN NEAR) IS OUR LATEST ENDEAVOR TO DEMONSTRATE VALUE.

Zero Waste, partnerships with local farms such as Two Moons Farms and Neese Sausage, and continuing to purchase Fair Trade & Organic Green Coffee beans when available, are all business decisions that do cost us more but pays off in a different way.

Smelly Cat Coffee has implemented these environmentally sustainable practices:

Zero single use straws, reusable straws available for purchase
Zero single use water cups, replaced with reusable glasses
Zero single use stir sticks, replaced by long-handled reusable iced tea spoons
Zero 5 lb, in-house coffee bean bags, replaced with reusable buckets & Planetary Design inserts to guarantee coffee freshness
Zero coffee ground waste and kitchen food waste, partnership with Crown Town Compost which picks up twice a week
Eliminated paper cup ordering dependency by installing a new iPad app to send orders to the baristas, enabling customer service to offer ceramic cups “for here” orders as well as offering glass pint glasses for all cold drinks
Offer a savings plus an opportunity for people to donate to 6 different charities when customers bring in their own reusable mug
Replaced old; inefficient HVAC with a new system, which demands less energy and uses no R22 freon (saving us approximately $150/month in operating costs)

Thank you City of Charlotte for establishing the Green Crown Program to highlight those businesses striving to do better when we know better and encouraging others to do the same.

Snooze AM Eatery

We believe a stack of pancakes can actually change the world. That’s why with every meal we serve, we’re dedicated to bettering the communities we live in, the planet we live on and building an inclusive environment where our guests and Snoozers are passionate about making a difference. A different kind of breakfast calls for different kind of people and we strive, every day, to bring out the best in our communities, Snoozers and Guests. At Snooze, we don’t ask you to check your individuality at the door - everyone is welcome at our table. A dish served at this breakfast party is thoughtfully prepared to be craveable to the eyes and the tastebuds. It starts with our responsibly sourced Snooze Approved ingredients from partners who are as passionate about food and our planet as we are with the goal of fostering a more sustainable food system. We are committed to being mindful of our impact on the environment. Snooze is striving to reach 100% waste diversion from our landfills and continually finding innovative new ways to reduce our carbon footprint. Every day we’re making change for breakfast.