June 21st, 2009

The Charlottesville Albemarle Convention and Visitors Bureau says the City and County are already doing their part in making the area environmentally sustainable.

"Our residents are very environmentally minded," said Allie Baer, the Marketing Manager for the Charlottesville Albemarle Convention and Visitors Bureau. "We've got recycling bins on our downtown mall. We're already doing a lot of these things. We just are not necessarily getting the credit that we think Charlottesville and Albemarle county deserve."

To get that credit the Visitors Bureau wants hotels, restaurants and attractions to become Virginia Green. These are some minimum requirements a restaurant needs to do to get the certification, according to the Virginia Green website:

- Eliminate use of polystyrene foam & minimize disposables\
- Recycle Grease
- Recycle and Reduce Waste
- Use Water Efficiently
- Conserve Energy

Some Charlottesville businesses have already caught on, like John Paul Jones Arena, the Dinsmore House, Sticks Kebob Shop and Hamiltons' at First and Main. They are all Virginia Green.

Bill Hamilton found out about the initiative and was a certified green restaurant in ten days.

"We know that our clients are interested in these efforts, " said Hamilton. "They do it in their homes. So I think that we have a responsibility to do that in the places they choose to spend their money."