Sustainability commitment

At Jimmy's we have made a commitment to continually evaluate our business and look for sustainable alternatives to the status quo. In 2016 we were recognized for our efforts by Tales of the Cocktail by being selected as one of five winners of their first ever Sustainable Spirit award.

If you'd like to learn more about our program, or if you have a restaurant or bar and want make some strides toward sustainability, please email [email protected]. None of what we do here matters unless we get you onboard as well. 

We still have a lot of work to do.

Commercial Composting

Since November 2015, we have composted 90% of our waste, including all food waste, paper products, coffee grounds, paper and plant-based plastic straws, paper napkins and non-plastic takeout containers. Over the past few years, we have averaged 37 yards of compost on a monthly basis, resulting in a 63%-66% waste diversion rate compared to the 56 yards of waste a month that goes directly to the landfill. However, that 56 yards is a compactor shared among at least three neighboring restaurants.

Straws Upon Request

 Every day, 500 million straws are used in the United States and many end up in our oceans. We offer paper or plant based plastic straws upon request. Our paper straws are made with food safe ink, biodegradable, and FDA approved, and they come in a recyclable cardboard box made from 80% post consumer recycled paper. Since switching, we've reduced our plastic straw usage to zero, and by offering straws upon request we lowered our compostable straw usage by 50%.

Digital Wine List

By switching to a digital wine list and inventory management system, we have been able to reduce paper use by 26,000 sheets per year.

Vero Water

We used to offer bottled Fiji and Badoit sparkling. In 2016 we switched to an in-house nano-filtration system called Vero, eliminating the need to ship and throw away plastic and glass bottles. Unlike reverse osmosis, the nano-filtration process produces no water waste. It also allows us to offer high quality filtered water at a much more affordable price to our guests. 

Recycled Pens & Paper

We buy pens made from 80% recycled PET material, giving new life to plastic bottles. Our menu paper, napkins, and business cards are made from post-consumer recycled paper. We use hand dryers in our restrooms to minimize waste. We have changed most of our reports over to digital formats, vastly reducing the need to print extra receipt copies and lengthy reports, saving money on thermal and receipt paper and also greatly reducing our waste. 

Green Kleen Dishwashing Detergents

We have partnered with Auto Chlor to use their U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Safer Choice Program Recognized Cleaning Products packaged in reusable containers. These products minimize impacts by eliminating non-biodegradable refuse material hauled to landfill. Green Kleen products are highly concentrated, environmentally responsible cleaners with premium product performance.

Energy Efficiency

Because we have a 20-year-old business and we don't own our building, we face a number of impediments to efficiency, however we are working hard to accomplish what we can. In 2017, we converted about 75% of our lighting to LED lights, greatly reducing our energy usage. We are in the process of changing over the remaining lights despite a number of challenges. We are also constantly reviewing our heating, cooling, and lighting systems in partnership with the city of Aspen & CORE program to make improvements.

In October 2017 we installed high efficiency, Energy-Star certified dishwashers in both our main dish area and our bar. These dishwashers are complemented by two hybrid electric heat pump water heaters.