A Greener Bar Program

LOCAL RESTAURATEUR/MIXOLOGIST Jimmy Yeager is an Aspen institution, as is his namesake restaurant and bar. In addition to its expertly crafted cocktails and those signature ice cubes, there’s now a more mindful reason to patronize the Mill Street building establishment: an emphasis on sustainability.

Last summer, Yeager and his business partner/ general manager Jessica Lischka instituted a composting program that encouraged other building tenants to follow suit. The pair has also worked together to introduce myriad other green initiatives such as sourcing products made from recycled materials, installing energy-efficient lighting and purchasing custom hardwood tables that have eliminated the need for linens.

As a result, Jimmy’s—An American Restaurant & Bar was one of several recipients honored with the first-ever Sustainable Spirit Award at Tales of the Cocktail in July. The New Orleans–based event is the world’s premier cocktail festival; the accolade was established to recognize leaders in the industry who have implemented green-thinking bar programs.

Says Yeager, “Jessica really pushed to make the business more environmentally friendly, doing all the research and implementing a plan. I’m really proud of the direction we’re moving in.”

The pair did a financial analysis and determined that if everyone in the building jumped on board with their composting initiative, the expense generated would be offset by reducing the cost of trash pickups. Yeager and Lischka estimate that the building has now reduced its collective trash pickups from 11 three-yard containers per week to two.

“It’s tough to be ‘green’ and economically viable,” Yeager concedes, “but scaling our efforts by encouraging others to compost with us has helped make it work—and now we’ve reduced the footprint of the entire building.”