Riverside has  another green credential to it’s credit.  The new restaurant has a variety of recycled materials, such as denim insulation made from old jeans and a glass counter top made from bottles and baby food jars.

In the kitchen, special fryers are designed to use 40 percent less oil, and the dining room gets mainly natural light from large windows and tube lights.

A shaded carport is covered with solar panels that help power the restaurant, and the parking lot pavers allow storm water to run back into the ground.

Lots of really great things to do and showcase proudly.  In fact, maybe we should be looking at revising some of our building codes to require some of the easy to implement, cost of operations saving and city enhancement benefits.

We should also be on the lookout for green washing. As great as this McDonald’s is, it is surrounded by the same neighborhood residents as before. Only now the drive thru lane splits into two lanes to handle 100% more drive thru traffic.

It seems a shame to go though all that wonderful effort and leave the neighbors with the exhaust impacts.  New research indicates a proximity to freeways increases the risk of autism. What do we imagine the risks for asthma and other respiratory ailments might be for the neighbors living adjacent to this new ‘green’ restaurant?

It’s most unfortunate because the neighbors were very vocal in expressing these same concerns during the permit approval process. Too bad we didn’t get it 100% right.