Greenopia rates fast food chains

The $160 billion U.S. fast food industry is likely to become more “green” in 2009 and Santa Monica-based Greenopia.com wants to help steer consumers to the most sustainable quick eats available.

Among the top trends restaurant owners see for 2009 are an expanded focus on locally sourced items and green initiatives by consumers, according to the National Restaurant Association. Greenopia.com in March released ratings to disclose the environmental impact and healthy dining characteristics of 23 of America's most popular restaurant chains.

Greenopia rated each fast food chain based on a lifecycle analysis of chain operations from food to packaging to supply chain operations, according to Gary Bishop, the company’s chief operating officer. Greenopia researchers pulled information from company reports and independently verified it, according to Bishop.

Each chain is rated on a scale of zero to four leaves. Four-leaf companies tend to be in the top 2 percent of companies, Bishop says. His researchers say the most eco-friendly fast food eateries in America are Le Pain Quotidien and Pizza Fusion. They are the only chains to receive four leaves.

A one-leaf rating on Greenopia is not a bad rating, Bishop says. It signifies that the company ranks in the top 20 percent, is aware of the issue of sustainability and is working on it. Bishop pointed to McDonalds as a company that received one leaf and could be termed “light green” largely thanks to its waste-diversion efforts and commitment to sourcing beef from responsible sources. “More needs to be done before it could be considered to be truly green,” the site says.

Greenopia plans to release ratings of mass-market beverages and coffee brands in April along with an IPhone application.