Our Green Philosophy

Post image for Our Green Philosophy

The Green Sage, located in the center of downtown Asheville, is both a coffeehouse and natural food restaurant, serving breakfast and lunch seven days a week. Our ingredients are always natural, local when available and organic when feasible. Coffees and teas are certified fair-trade and organic. Meats are pasture-raised on local farms. The Green Sage is the only restaurant in Asheville that provides vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free options for almost every item on the menu.

Striving to be Asheville’s greenest restaurant, the owners installed 12 thermal solar panels on the roof and 6 eighty gallon storage tanks in the basement, capable of generating 480 gallons of solar heated hot water per day.

Other green solutions include:

Compost and Recycling Station. Food scraps and waste are composted; vegetable oil is picked up for conversion to bio-fuel. The Green Sage does not have a dumpster.
Water for making beverages, ice and cooking is filtered to remove chlorine and heavy metals. Pure drinking water is free of charge. The Green Sage does not sell water in plastic bottles.
To Go Containers are compostable. Clam shells are made from sugar cane pulp. Utensils and straws are made from potatoes.
An official Green Sage bicycle is used for emissions-free delivery to area businesses.
Concrete counters and bars were locally made, with 75% of the materials coming from within the county. Cabinets were made with wood reclaimed from old house rafters.
Marque sign was made from scrap yard metals.
Locally made and toxic free Earth Paint covers the interior and exterior walls.
Waterless urinal in the men’s bathroom can save up to 40,000 gallons of water per year.

Our casual counter service is quick and friendly. With 65 seats and free wi-fi, The Green Sage is the perfect spot for the ecologically minded community to enjoy breakfast and lunch meetings, or to grab a mid-afternoon drink and snack while checking emails.

The Green Sage is a place where you can eat, drink and be ecological. We hope to see you soon.

Happenings

Current Art Showing:
Selected Photography by Asheville’s
Steve Dixon

Join us for a Solar Energy TalkFirst Light Solar, a division of FLS Energy, is presenting a solar energy information session called E.O.S (Economics of Solar) for Asheville residents Tuesday, March 9, 2010 at 6 p.m. The session will be held at The Green Sage Coffeehouse and Café located at 5 Broadway Street in downtown Asheville.

The E.O.S. session will cover the history and basics of solar thermal (hot water) as well as the financial benefits of installing a solar thermal energy system. “Our goal for this session is to explain how solar thermal energy works and help people realize that it is a reliable and economical way to produce renewable energy for their home or business,” says Grant Gosch, director of First Light Solar.

Chad Storck, a CPA specializing in green businesses, will highlight the tax credits and incentives available for Asheville homeowners and businesses, which include a possible 30% federal tax credit, a 35% state tax credit, and a $1,000 rebate from Progress Energy.

“After tax credits and rebates, installing a solar thermal system will cost less than half the price, reduce your hot water heating costs by 80%, and pay for itself in approximately five years. That’s information we want to share with the public – for their benefit as well as the environment,” says Gosch.

The session will last approximately one hour with time for mingling and Q&A segment. Hors devours and beverages will be served courtesy of The Green Sage and First Light Solar. All attendees will receive a $200 discount voucher towards the purchase of a solar thermal energy system.

For more information regarding the E.O.S. information session, please contact Grant Gosch, director of First Light Solar, at 828-545-7144 or email grant@flsenergy.com. For directions to The Green Sage Coffeehouse and Café call (828)252-4450 or visit their Web site at http://thegreensage.net/.

First Light Solar, based in Asheville, N.C., is an award-winning solar energy design and installation company providing residential and light commercial clients with the latest technology in photovoltaic (PV) and solar thermal (hot water) energy systems. For more on First Light Solar visit http://www.firstlightsolar.com or contact Grant Gosch at 828-545-7144.