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Using locally grown food sources, reusing materials that would have gone into landfills, reducing carbon footprints, and hearing about sustainability efforts: sound like a lot for teenagers to understand?  Not for H2O Summer Service Campers.  The City of Lakewood’s H2O Summer Service Camp is emphasizing “green” this year.  To help make the sustainability movement more real for the students, several groups of campers are getting an opportunity to visit local businesses who are actively engaged in sustainability efforts.  H2O teamed up with Lakewood resident and LHS graduate, Jonathan, Sin-jin Satayathum, an interior designer and member of the US Green Building Council.  Sin-jin has been working with several eco-friendly businesses and helped H2O gain access to their “green” planning, designing, and business processes.

The Green House Tavern, the first green-certified restaurant in Cleveland, has opened its doors to H2O Campers this summer.  Located on East 4th Street, it’s a cutting edge restaurant on many fronts.  The Green House Tavern is guided by 2 main principles: “that the idea of proximity of the farm and soil to a restaurant correlates to the quality of its food and that environmentally conscious or green business practices are fundamental.”  They serve classic dishes with local and sustainable ingredients.

Two campers have eagerly volunteered to share their experiences to The Greenhouse Tavern. 

Kerry Colatruglio, age 14

My time at The Greenhouse Tavern was a wonderful experience. I’m so glad that I was able to get a tour of the beautiful restaurant and get to know about it a little better. If it wasn’t for H2O camp, I would’ve never known about it.            

When my group first arrived at The Greenhouse Tavern, I didn’t really know what to expect. All I saw was a regular restaurant with waiters, waitresses, and chefs. But it only took a little while to really learn about the past, present and future for this successful tavern. 

When I learned about how difficult it must have been to actually make a “green” restaurant, my respect for the designers and owners, immediately increased. I had no idea how much time and effort it took to make a successful restaurant from scratch, let alone a “green” restaurant that’s still enjoyable for all of the customers.            

Seeing and hearing all the details about how the lamps were made from recycled bicycles, or how the bar counter is made from eco-friendly cement with recycled glass, or that some of the chairs were actually church pews being reused, really made me feel that it’s not difficult to help the environment and there’s tons of ways to do it. I learned that it’s really important to ask questions and always seek for answers.            

This experience has opened my eyes to not only help our environment, but it also has got me thinking about some career options. When I thought about how fun it would be to say “I designed this building from recycled materials,” it occurred to me that it would be really fun to be an interior designer.            

I’m really thankful I got to be a part of this great experience, and I hope it causes a chain reaction so that slowly, the world becomes more “green.” The Greenhouse Tavern is a good example for many other restaurants to follow. Even though the tables might not be brand new or the floors aren’t made of expensive cement, it’s an amazing thing what a small group of people can accomplish. I’m proud to say that I live in Cleveland, where the first “green” restaurant was made. 

Triple Bottom Line

Lily Pollack, age 13

At H2O's Summer Service Camp, kids get great opportunities to meet new people, see new things, and most importantly, help others. Campers go to the Ronald McDonald House, The Cleveland Foodbank, and this year sustainable businesses, like the Green House Tavern in downtown Cleveland. Certain groups from H20 were chosen to visit this restaurant, and to talk to the interior designer, who was charged with making the Green House Tavern eco-friendly. We learned a lot about how you should buy local, and use things that people were planning to throw away that are still in perfectly good condition.  The food sounds delicious, and most of it is raised or grown locally. The restaurant used old barn wood to make cabinets and counters. They even used recycled bicycle spokes to make the lights, which are special LEDs that are the most energy saving lights you can get.

The most amazing thing about this restaurant is that they are currently working on building a rooftop greenhouse, along with additional seating. This means that they will have herbs and vegetables organically grown right there for whenever they need them.  Sitting up there will be really wonderful- you have a view of the city while enjoying a fresh breeze.  This restaurant was probably the coolest restaurant I’ve ever been too!

The Green House Tavern was designed so that they used as little transportation and money to get the things they needed, while being green. Something can be totally recycled, but can come from across the country, which takes fuel – a lot of it.  So, we learned that local is absolutely the best.  Sin-jin Satayathum, the interior designer who led our visit, was very nice to us and talked a lot about how to be green while running a business and designing a building using the triple bottom line concept: good for the environment, good for the local economy, and good for the profits. We learned so much from him, and had fun too. We got a sampling of organic, local soda, and listened to a 1970’s jukebox in the basement.  This is definitely a restaurant worth checking out. I am happy that H20 got this fantastic opportunity to meet new people, see new innovative ideas, and learn along the way.  

 H2O - Help To Others is sponsored by the City of Lakewood, Division of Youth.  The Summer Service Camp is a service learning program offered to 11 - 14 year old residents of Lakewood.  While volunteering at a diverse range of daily sites, middle school youth develop social awareness and civic responsibility. This year’s theme, “Planting Pride…Growing Goodness,” highlights H2O’s commitment to the environment.  Campers are cultivating 2 large garden plots donated by LEAF at Madison Park.  At harvest time, campers will donate their nutritious, fresh produce to Lakewood Christian Center for client families in need of emergency food.  Since it's inception in 1994, H2O Summer Service Camp has relied on private donations and grants to fund counselors, transportation needs, and camp supplies.