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"  The golden arches are turning a shade of green. On October 14, McDonald&amp;#039;s franchise in Riverside, California became the fourth McDonald&amp;#039;s in the U.S., and the only one west of the Mississippi, to seek official LEED\u00AE Gold certification (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design). The restaurant, located at 2242 University Avenue, has been in existence since 1964. (Fun fact: It&amp;#039;s owner, Tom Spiel, was hired by none other than founding father of the McDonald&amp;#039;s franchise, Ray Kroc.) In order to bring the building to environmental standards they had to make a series of structural changes. The counters? Eighty-three percent recycled glass from baby food jars, clear bottles, traffic lights and dinnerware. The solar panels on the roof supply the electricity to run the restaurant and installation of low-volume fryers reduces oil consumption by forty percent. One curious feature: the restroom&amp;#039;s viewing gallery which allows fast-food goers to see the denim insulation in the walls. An interesting location choice. According to Gwen Sheinfeld, director of corporate sustainability at Healthy Buildings, the process McDonald&amp;#039;s must go through to become LEED certified is very rigorous. &amp;quot;There are a variety of categories for which a building receives credits: sustainable site, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources, indoor environmental quality, waste, and innovations in operations. McDonald&amp;#039;s will be judged on everything from office operations-pens and paper-to the burger wrappers and cardboard boxes that they use,&amp;quot; says Sheinfeld. But the question that is probably on everyone&amp;#039;s mind, including Sheinfeld, &amp;quot;Do the green practices that McDonald&amp;#039;s is now employing in Riverside, CA offset the amount of pollution that amounts from the food that they make?&amp;quot; McDonald&amp;#039;s Corporation touts their system as being one of the world&amp;#039;s largest purchasers of recycled paper. Information on their site states: &amp;quot;Today, approximately 80.8% of the consumer packaging used in our nine largest markets is made from renewable (paper or wood-fiber) materials, and nearly 31% of the material comes from recycled fiber.&amp;quot;  Though McDonald&amp;#039;s has implemented sustainable practices like these, according to Sheinfeld, there is room for more growth. &amp;quot;Everyone knows McDonald&amp;#039;s as having a large carbon footprint from their beef production. The carbon emissions that come from raising cattle far supersede the emissions they are offsetting by putting up solar panels,&amp;quot; Sheinfeld says. Still, Sheinfeld believes this is great news that should be celebrated. But she adds,&amp;quot;The interesting argument is: is it enough?&amp;quot; Only time will tell. But for now with over 32,000 restaurants located around the globe, McDonald&amp;#039;s seems to be taking it, one McDonald&amp;#039;s at a time. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.delish.com/food/news/a38241/sustainable-green-practices-mcdonalds/>