Going Green at Sassafras
Learn how the Garden's restaurant became a Certified Green Restaurant^TM

Sassafras' Spring / Summer menu (PDF)

Sassafras Hours 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Lunch served from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m Learn more: Sassafras Home Page Going Green in Your Own Life Download: Sassafras Greening Fact Sheet (PDF)

Below is a complete list of all the practices that Sassafras incorporates in its daily operations as the first Certified Green Restaurant^TM in the state of Missouri.

Sassafras Greening Guide

Reduce – Reuse – Recycle

• Food is served on durable, colorful plates with real silverware.

• Sassafras staff recycle all plastic, steel, aluminum, glass, and plastic containers; all office paper and all cardboard; and all cooking grease.

• Guests and staff can use recycling bins conveniently placed around the outdoor dining terrace and at the restaurant exit. Recycling bins are also prominently located throughout the Garden grounds.

• All posters, table-tent inserts and office communications are printed on 100% post-consumer recycled content paper stock.

• Menus are printed on paper containing 50% post-consumer recycled content paper and 50% sugar cane fiber, an agricultural by-product fiber.

• Napkins are chlorine-free 100% post-consumer recycled content paper.

• Hot cups are chlorine-free 10% post-consumer recycled content paper.

• Take-out boxes are made from 100% recycled paper with 35% post-consumer content. When emptied, these boxes can be deposited in the Garden’s recycling bins.

• No Styrofoam products are used in the restaurant, a commitment to reduce consumption of petroleum-based goods.

• Sassafras patrons are encouraged to “think before you take” at self-service condiment and beverage lid stations.

• Restroom janitorial paper products have 100% recycled content, with post-consumer content of products ranging from 40 to 75%.

Conserving Energy – Water – Other Materials

• Sassafras indoor dining areas are flooded with daylight through a large skylight in the center of the restaurant and energy efficient tinted-glass windows along the entire south wall. Daylight also lights the ordering queue area through a window to the Garden Gate Shop, which has its own large skylight.

• Accent lamps use energy efficient compact fluorescent light bulbs.

• Energy efficiency measures implemented in Garden buildings, including recent upgrades to the Ridgway Center where Sassafras is located, have decreased energy consumption by 22%, while overall building area has increased by 11%.

• Sustainable materials were used in a recent renovation of the Sassafras dining room, including tabletops and wall dividers surfaced with a material made from post-consumer recycled paper and alfalfa, low-VOC paints, and wall panels accented with rapidly renewable cork.

• Hand washing sinks in the restaurant kitchen are fitted with aerators that mix air pressure with water, reducing water flow to 0.5 gallons per minute (gpm) while maintaining a standard feel of pressure.

• The spray valve on the kitchen dishwashing machine is fitted with an aerator that reduces water consumption from a standard 5 gpm to 1.2 gpm, without sacrificing pressure needed to efficiently pre-rinse dishes.

• Sassafras serves only Fair Trade™ certified coffees and teas, ensuring that growers of these products are paid fair wages in healthy working conditions.

• Hand soap used in the restroom is Green Seal™ certified, dispensed from auto-portion dispensers which minimize product waste and clean-up.

• Restroom cleaning products are all Green Seal™ certified, to safeguard health of our employees and guests.

Read more: Going Green in Your Own Life