Indulge and explore in one of
California's meccas of eco-living
My tour of the metropolis that is often described as one of America's greenest cities begins at
City Hall 
, where
San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom once stood to announce a ban on the purchase of single-serving water bottles-a first for any city department or agency that relies on city funds. (San Francisco has also become the first city in the U.S. to put an outright ban on plastic shopping bags.)
In this august setting, his Honor, the Mayor, takes a moment with me to share a laundry list of changes intended to whittle the city's carbon footprint down to an exemplary size. It's an impressive list indeed: a goal of zero waste by 2020 (the city now recycles over three-fourths of its garbage); an enormous solar installation-the largest city-owned solar array in the country-atop the city's main convention site,
Moscone Center . Mayor Newsom has also pledged to convert 100 percent of San Francisco's taxi fleet to hybrid or alternative fuel vehicles by 2011.
While a visit to San Francisco does not customarily include an audience with the mayor like I'm getting, a tourist interested in how environmentalism plays out on the urban landscape might do well to start where I am at City Hall, a 1915 Beaux-Arts masterpiece largely accessible to the public. To see the sunlight streaming into the building's meticulously restored light courts or reflecting off the gold leaf on the 307-foot-tall dome is to understand that a relationship with nature is deeply embedded in the values of this city.
A dedicated green tourist, I'm staying at the
Orchard Garden Hotel , which boasts that it's one of California's first hotels built to the specifications of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) Green Building Rating System-a universally accepted set of strategies for making buildings more sustainable. It's been developed and promoted by the U.S. Green Building Council. The hotel, which opened in late 2006, is built from concrete made of recycled fly ash and sustainably harvested wood. The building is well insulated, energy efficient, and decorated in "soothing, spa-inspired tones." The location at Grant Avenue and Bush Street, where it's an easy stroll to
Union Square and the
Chinatown Gateway , is just about perfect.
And if you'd like to trade the convenience of a central location for a spectacular natural setting, you can stay just across the Golden Gate Bridge in the understated by undeniable elegance of
Cavallo Point , a stunning lodge complex just north of the
Golden Gate . Located at
Fort Baker , a former army installation now part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, the lodge offers easy access to hiking trails and kayaking. There's a full-service spa that provides morning yoga sessions and can supply relaxing massages or guided meditations.
Bay Area cuisine: Fresh, local, and sustainable
In San Francisco and its environs, the green tourist will find an endless supply of restaurants that specialize in locally grown, organic, vegetarian, vegan, or raw cuisine. A good starting point is the
Ferry Building , originally completed in 1898 as the main gateway to the city. In 2003, after years of painstaking renovation, it was repurposed and reopened as foodie heaven. The Ferry Building Marketplace has over 40 merchants who sell everything from locally produced olive oil to exquisite chocolates. On Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays you'll also find Ferry Plaza Farmers Market, where the products for sale include artisan cheeses and breads, and in-season, certified-organic California specialties like oranges, avocados, and artichokes.
In fact, my first stop after checking into the Orchard Garden is the Ferry Building's Hog Island Oyster Bar. I order a half-dozen Sweetwater oysters, harvested in
Marin County's Tomales Bay , and a Scrimshaw Pilsner, brewed up the coast in Fort Bragg.
During this same trip, I spend an hour or two talking with Alice Waters of
Chez Panisse Restaurant and Café in Berkeley, commonly considered the inventor of California cuisine and lately a proponent of the slow food movement. I mention to her that while the green movement has sometimes been identified with things you can't have-rules and prohibitions-this "buy local" revolution in eating that is happening all around us seems very much to be about enjoyment. "It is," she affirms. "It's all about bringing people to biodiversity and sustainability through pleasure. By eating heirloom tomatoes, you can be doing exactly the right thing, and having the flavor and experience."
The Bay Area's list of eco-friendly restaurants is a mile long and includes places that buy local, organic produce simply because it tastes good. There's Zuni Café , a perennial favorite, and Range, a more recent arrival in the Mission District, where I dine with friends at the bar. And then there are places that have a defined purpose such as Farmer Brown, a soul food restaurant on the cusp of the Tenderloin District, dedicated to supporting local and African American organic farmers. Greens Restaurant, a bastion of vegetarian cuisine for 30+ years, also offers one of the best San Francisco Bay views, and Millennium downtown offers vegetarian fare in a dramatic, high-ceilinged space. Downtown, Mixt Greens, with three locations, serves up gourmet organic salads in a stylish atmosphere.
Drinking, by the way, can also be green. The
Ferry Plaza Wine Merchant has daily tastings and every wine on the menu is rated for, among other things, the sustainability of the vintner's growing practices. Yield Wine Bar, a small establishment on the backside of Potrero Hill in a rapidly evolving neighborhood called Dogpatch, was established specifically to promote environmentally friendly wines.
Beaches, dump diving, and the new Academy of Sciences
Naturally, the most obvious activity for a green tourist is to simply go outside, perhaps for a stroll on any of the Bay Area's beautiful beaches. But there are also more urban forms of sightseeing, such as one that combines a stunning natural setting with a world-class museum. The newest and splashiest green attraction-in fact, attraction, period-in San Francisco is the
California Academy of Sciences in
Golden Gate Park . Designed by renowned architect Renzo Piano, this reinvention of a 155-year-old institution debuted in the fall of 2008. It's billed as "the largest public LEED-certified building in the world" and "the world's greenest museum." Even if visitors don't notice the natural ventilation and the recycled blue jean insulation (this is the city of Levi Strauss, after all), they'll be swept away by exhibitions including a multilevel tropical rainforest, one of the world's deepest living coral reef tanks, and some very imposing snakes. The undulating green roof, planted with native perennials and annual wildflowers, is as attractive to humans as it is to butterflies.
And for the truly gung-ho green tourist there's always the San Francisco Dump. Indeed, SF Recycling & Disposal, Inc (Recology SF)., located at the south end of the city, is well worth a visit. The grounds are home to a meandering sculpture garden arranged with rusted springs and discarded soda bottles magically formed into aesthetic objects; tours are available by advance reservation on the third Saturday of every month. The dump also has a popular artist-in-residence program where talented sculptors and painters spend several months drawing inspiration (and materials) from their unique surroundings. And if you schedule your trip wisely, you might be able to attend one of the program's art exhibitions, where the wine served may be from vineyards that grow their grapes in compost supplied by the dump. What could be greener than that?—Karrie Jacobs
