The menu is simple: burger, cheeseburger, veggie burger, fries. The difference with O’Brothers is the approach to the food. Everything here, and we mean everything, is organic.

O’Brothers will feature premium organic beef that is grass fed for 12 months before a short diet of organic grains and corn for 12 weeks to bring out the beef’s natural flavors. All of the ingredients and products used at O’Brothers are USDA certified organic, including the beef, bun, bacon, cheese, onion, tomato, condiments, fries, soda, wine and beer. The restaurant plans to achieve organic kitchen certification from Quality Assurance International.

An organic labor of love is great and all, but how do the burgers taste? Phenomenal. My accomplice in chowing down and I both ordered “The Big O’ — bacon, avocado, tomato and cheese — with a side of garlicky shoestring fries. Through a big glass window, we could see our meals being prepared fresh in a green-approved kitchen. As fast as they arrived, these were not fast food burgers: they tasted fresh and flavorful, without the grease and heavy feeling that normally comes with, well, most anything topped with bacon. The portions were perfect (enough to fill us up, without being bogged down for a night on the town), and the fries on the side were crispy and an excellent touch.

The only downside? For all the organics and green-consciousness and recycling bins in the restroom, the drinks came from behind the counter in a refrigerator stocked with cans and plastic bottles. As proponents of reusable bags and bottles, we ask, why stop with the food when it comes to an eco-friendly approach? At the same time, we realize that customer demands are also an issue that must be balanced, and sometimes customers want an organic soda that only comes in a can.

Overall? O’Brothers is a delicious restaurant that’s as easy on the conscience as it is on the taste buds. Check it out next time you’re in Horton Plaza!

What else is crackin’ in San Diego so far? Take a look:

Pizza Fusion
Buffalo Exchange

Jacy Bolden, City of Encinitas Environmental Advisory Committee Coordinator, sent out an e-mail on Wednesday evening, September 10th, after the City of Encinitas City Council, in a 3-2 vote; approved moving forward with a phased-in plastic bag ban with a fee on paper bags and additionally with an option of allowing a self-imposed fee on plastic bags. There was a specific directive that there be significant education that it be phased in slowly, for the committee to work with both residents and the business community — developing a ‘reasonable’ plan and timeframe.

Okay, Encinitas First, we mostly knew that before. Is anything new in the works in the near future?

The new EACC meets monthly, and the next meeting will be Thursday, October 23, at City Hall. The Encinitas Chamber respects the courage of the Council for taking leadership in this action and will monitor the progress of the committee monthly as the EACC considers different options. Already the suggestion that the City implement a plan that allows shoppers to use a plastic bag, pay a 25 cent fee at time of purchase that is refundable like the can and bottle program that the State of California currently runs might be acceptable to local business owners and help modify shopper behavior while not putting the entire responsibility for change on the local business owners and retailers. For more information, watch these pages; the Chair of the EACC, Alek Cannan, has agreed to write a monthly report that will follow the committee’s progress and report on their direction in the pages of our newsletter as the “ban” proceeds toward a public hearing and possible Council approval.

So, in short: nothing too much has changed. Yet. But stay tuned on the 23rd to see if a vote is taken on when to officially put the ban into effect — and, more importantly, how and how quickly it should be done. Interesting times in Encinitas, though, that’s for sure. We’ll keep you posted!

• The rest of San Diego County may soon be following in Encinitas’ footsteps. [Sign On San Diego]
• Meanwhile, Gonzaga is following in the footsteps of all universities going green. [Gonzaga Bulletin]
• Concluding the Telluride/Aspen Plastic Bag Reduction Challenge: Telluride 1, Aspen 0. [Telluride Watch]
• North Carolina communities are making a heartfelt effort at replacing plastic bags. [The Appalachian]
• …and in South Carolina, a plastic bag factory is closing its doors. [Triangle Business Journal]
• Recycling is fashionable, and sometimes it IS fashion. [Ventura County Star]
• Florida’s Emerald Coast is all, “Paper or plastic? No, thank you!” [Emerald Coast]
• Japan is going to start recycling Nylon products. Hey, why not? [Trading Markets]
• Eugene-based Market of Choice is ditching the plastic. [NWCN]
• Plastic bags, served twenty-eight ways. [Green Eco Services]

Image via Flickr!

Council members voted to approve the ban Wednesday night. The ban will be phased in over time, and supporters are happy to set the trend for other cities in the county.

Council members are expected to meet again to decide when the ban will take effect.

Following a not-long-enough line of trendsetters like San Francisco, and Manhattan Beach, and Malibu, Encinitas can now perhaps usher the rest of Southern-most California into a new golden age relatively free of plastics. As expected, the California Restaurant Association is kicking up a fuss that the ban violates health codes somehow, but these claims are questionable at best, as well as an argument for another time — when they meet to decide when the ban will take effect, one supposes.

Who doesn’t love pizza? It’s an American classic in all its forms, from gourmet toppings down to yesterday’s cold pepperoni. When such an institution finds a way to return that love, it becomes an unstoppable force, and yesterday as I walked past the new Pizza Fusion that just opened up on 5th Ave in Hillcrest, it was love at first sight. Pizza Fusion isn’t like the other pizza shops, you see — Pizza Fusion has a plan to save the world, one pie at a time.

Pizza Fusion is committed to a sustainable future through the preservation and improvement of the environment with all aspects of our operations and existence. We strive to improve the social, economical and environmental well being of the world through:

* The support of sustainable business by seeking out environmentally conscious vendors and suppliers to partner with
* Our commitment to environmental education to raise awareness for more sustainable approaches to living and business
* Educating the general public on the importance of sustainable living through ecological community service, consumer education and environmental mentoring
* Lobbying for political action to support a more sustainable future
* The support of organic agriculture
* The continuous evaluation of our ecological impact in our endless pursuit to minimize our environmental footprint

Of course, a pizza place could say a whole lot of vague things about sustainability and environmentalism, and then not actually follow through. Luckily, Pizza Fusion goes above and beyond to conquer environmental concerns at the base level. Pizza Fusion shops deliver their pizzas in hybrid cars; they recycle and use only biodegradable spudware utensils. They offset their energy usage with wind energy certificates, and they build all of their shops strictly to LEED standards. Are you swooning yet? Because I am. If you’re itching to dismiss the place on the basis that it’s a chain restaurant, all I have to say is this: if only all chain restaurants were like this.

Side note: just the plain cheese pizza is to die for — they said the secret is in the all-organic ingredients — but I’ve heard fantastic things about the Seattle pizza if you decide to check one out for yourself.

Sweet home San Diego is an interesting place — never before have I lived in a place so equally split between raging conservatives and diehard beachy nature people. Most times, this dichotomy lays dormant as each party chooses to ignore the other, but from every now and then something happens to bring the underlying resentment to a head: gentrification in the Gaslamp Quarter, for example, and now the Great Plastic Bag Debate. Already a hot topic in such neighboring towns as Encinitas and Leucadia, the subject was finally formally broached to San Diego’s City Council yesterday.

An environmental group asked a City Council committee Wednesday to pursue legislation to ban the use of plastic carryout shopping bags in San Diego.

The Natural Resources and Culture Committee took no vote, but agreed to seek a legal analysis from the City Attorney’s Office before the issue is brought back in September for further consideration.

Well, okay, no swift changes. But we’re looking into it! That’s something, at least! Not that everyone is pleased with even the decision to “analyze” it. In fact, the American Chemistry Council seems to be feeling very left out and irritated by even the promise to look into things.

The American Chemistry Council’s Jennifer Forkish called on the panel to delay moving forward with any proposal seeking to ban the use of plastic carry-out shopping bags.

Forkish complained that the ACC and its members only heard about the proposed ban at the “11th hour.”

“We ask that we be afforded the same opportunity as other stakeholders to prepare our presentation on some of the many unintended negative consequences of bans on plastic carryout bags,” she said.

As much as I want to roll my eyes at chemical companies, this is actually, if true, an extremely fair complaint. The proposal for phasing out plastic bags has so much going for it, that its proponents shouldn’t have to resort to being sneaky to get their case out there. In fact, keeping opponents in on the case may actually spark more intellectual debate on the subject and lead to even better solutions — like, say, the small-fee on bags idea. Obviously in a perfect world we could ban plastics outright, but maybe a compromise might be more likely to actually happen. Just a thought.

But at least it’s under discussion now. Lord knows we need something better to talk about than yet another new ball park.

Photo via GraniteGrok! Speaking of San Diego being a study in contradictions. I’ve never seen a coastal town so frequently ablaze…

First of all, looks like our 25 Reasons to Go Reusable page got a link over at Leucadia Blog (your one-stop Leucadia information stop). This specific blog post addresses the effort to ban plastic bags in the Encinitas area, and asks a burning question: with petroleum prices rising and attitudes changing about the use of reusable bags, is a ban really necessary or is consumer culture eliminating them well enough on its own? (Also noted in burning question: why hasn’t Encinitas yet banned styrofoam cups and plates in restaurants? An equally pertinent question, to be sure.)

I would argue that a ban would certainly help move the issue along that much faster, but shifts in general attitudes and consumer culture have certainly helped. I was pleasantly reminded of this when I stopped by Buffalo Exchange (the Hillcrest location, natch) this past weekend. The shop has been in the environmentally-conscious game from the start, trading in recycled clothing and making it all look fashionable, and for a decade now they have been putting waste-reducing in the hands of their customers via a feel-good sort of incentive. While lots of stores have been cropping up with a 5-cent rebate for customers who BYOB, Buffalo Exchange instead implemented their arguably even more fantastic Tokens for Bags Charities Program:

Buffalo Exchange donates to local nonprofit agencies in the community through its Tokens for Bags program, which has generated over $265,000 in donations to hundreds of nonprofit groups since 1994, saving 5.3 million bags. Shoppers are encouraged to accept a token instead of a bag for purchases, and Buffalo Exchange donates five cents to a charity of the customer’s choice.

When I went, there were three bins for tokens: one for an environmental charity, one for an animal rescue, and a fund that provides education and aid for immigrant and refugee survivors of domestic abuse. I liked the choice, as it gives customers some control over their five cents — it seems like it would go a long way in morale to feel like you have some say in where your charity money is going, and provides a little more personal incentive toward repeat donations. I think it’s rather genius, and I was proud to receive my token and put five cents (which I probably would have wasted anyway, had it come back to me in nickel form) toward something really worthwhile.

So maybe there will still be debate over whether a ban is necessary, and maybe it will go on for some time yet. In the meantime, however, some people are being proactive and finding creative ways to save the world in more ways than one while they’re at it. Go, Buffalo!

In case anyone was wondering about those sweet finds, Your Humble Narrator bought a totally awesome black shirt-dress with an eagle head on the front and a 1989 Los Angeles Dodgers sweatshirt. Stylish!

In my domestic world view, you can never have too many filmy bags close at hand.

At the grocery checkout, I always request plastic, never paper. If a clerk at the drugstore asks me if I need a sack for a small item, I say, “Yes, thanks.” If I spot a plastic bag floating around like a white jellyfish – and it’s not too filthy – I snag it like it’s my lucky day. Same thing goes for the slick sleeves protecting the daily newspaper. They go right into the bin underneath the kitchen sink.

Every now and then, our supply of bags runs low – and panic sets in. Time to go shopping to restore the essential stockpile.

What? Seriously? Who says things like this? Logan Jenkins does, apparently, and he has an excuse at the ready to explain away his raging obsessive-compulsive bagophilia:

Frankly, I can’t imagine urban life without the convenient bags that conform to the human hand as it grasps – and then quickly reverses into a clean, tidy, knotted sack – what our golden retriever regularly leaves behind with shameless gusto.

Oh, well sure. That makes perfect sense. As a cat owner, I too keep a vault of grocery bags that I fished out of the ocean to deal with her litter box needs… oh wait, no I don’t, because that’s crazy. So I guess that would be fine if Mr. Jenkins just wanted to air his personal issues, but of course he has a further agenda. Perhaps you can deduce what that agenda might be?

If Solana Beach and now Encinitas are true harbingers of San Diego County’s future – and I fear they fit that futuristic bill – then my days of copping free poop bags appear to be numbered.

Our coastal paladins are on a crusade to banish from the planet the most useful, flexible, sublime – and cheapest – packaging device in human history. Yes, there are those who might call this anti-plastic campaign a responsible reaction to an inconvenient truth about the earth’s health. I, on the other hand, call it an atrocity, the mass extermination of a noble species of human invention. In a (new) word, it’s . . . bagocide.

Oh, for the love of… well, there it is. Bagocide. Now, don’t get me wrong — I can understand how one might appreciate the convenience of disposable plastic bags. They really do have their own certain charms (when one overlooks the costs, anyway). But the second one starts throwing around words like “sublime” and “atrocity” and “bagocide” (and no, I did not add the italics for emphasis, they’re italicized in the original piece), it all starts sounding a little preposterous. Further frustrating is that Jenkins spends an entire section outlining the cons and environmental detriment caused by plastics and their paper counterparts. After this, however, he reiterates his passion for polymers (“I’ll cherish every free bag and value it like stolen gold. I’ll hoard the sacks like a survivalist stocking up on bullets and beans…”), blames “litterbugs” for all the world’s environmental issues ruining his doggy quality time, and snidely comments that he expects San Diego will have no choice but to shop “Euro-style” with reusables — as if following Europe’s lead is somehow supposed to be an insult. To round out the article, Jenkins really — to borrow his own phrase — goes for the gusto himself with this gem:

Before it’s too late, dog owners and free-market libertarians must form packs, as well as PACs, in support of this threatened industrial species. Who knows? Sanctuary cities, while imposing and enforcing Draconian anti-litterbug laws, could declare themselves plastic friendly – and proud of it.

Maybe the tide will turn if millions of Americans get off the whale bandwagon and wail in unison:

Save the Bags!

There you have it: damn the whales, save the plastic bags. So there are two options here. Either Logan Jenkins fancies himself some sort of modern-day environmental Jonathan Swift, or he truly believes what he’s writing. The former seems plausible — some columnists build whole careers on being incendiary, and it’s made some very wealthy indeed. A certain demographic seems to love reading characters, especially a good cantankerous Andy Rooney-type. Perhaps this is just an over-the-top article meant to stimulate discussion on the subject. Maybe he wants his readers to think about their everyday actions and perhaps look into ways to better their routines. Or maybe he just wanted, like Swift, to write a shocking and scandalously black-humor piece on a serious subject — an attempt that this time sadly missed the mark, as it fell short of humor and comments are already cropping up in a show of support for his “cause.” Are any of these it, Mr. Jenkins? Can I have the relief of knowing that you’re just trying to be lighthearted, or at least instigating and subversive? I really would like an answer.

Because the only alternative is that you really believes this, and the only relief that can bring me will come in the form of two headache pills and a dark, quiet room.