Green restaurants gain momentum.

Ethnic restaurants in California continue to reap environmental and economic benefits thanks to Ritu Primlani's Greening Ethnic Restaurants (GER) program (see "Redesigning Restaurants," In Brief, July/August 2003). Primlani is currently overseeing a GER pilot project in Los Angeles, and plans to have 200 more green restaurants in California in the next 20 years.

This program could be seen in such cities as New York, Philadelphia and Seattle within he next five years, says Primlani.

Members of GER have saved one million gallons of water and diverted 83 percent of their solid waste into recycling and composting streams each year. Primlani's efforts have won her the California Governor's Award for Leadership in Environmental and Economic Partnership. This past June she also received the San Francisco Bay Area Community Hero Award.

Members of Thimmakka's Resources for Environmental Education, founded by Primlani, receive a 10 percent discount to participating GER restaurants in California. "It's not only an environmental incentive, but an economic incentive," says Primlani. "The discount helps restaurants bring in new customers." CONTACT: Thimmakka's Resources for Environmental Education, [phone], www.thimmakka.org.