Restaurant owners don't often realize their ecological impact. The goal of one Berkley-based program is too reduce the impact they have.

So how much of an eco impact are restaurants in general?

Restaurants actually consume more energy per square foot than any other retail space.

They also use lots of water and collect tons of food scraps.

Ritu Primlani of Certified Green Restaurants said, "Each one of our restaurants implements at the very minimum, sixty environmental measures in four segments, solid waste minimization, water conservation, energy conservation and pollution prevention."

Lachu Moorjani owns the Ajanta restaurant and said, "She approached me and showed me her entire program which included not only recycling, but composting, not throwing chemicals in the storm drain."

Since then Moorjani has saved tens of thousands of dollars.

"There's nothing you can lose, it's a win-win situation. You're helping the environment as well as you are saving money."

"49 Our 100 restaurants in five years save 1.3 million dollars by saving the environment."