Nicole Houser and Lucy Buffett pave the way for eco-friendly eateries. JESSE'S - A Popular Family Restaurant Begins A New Cycle Not long ago, Nicole Houser bought the landmark Jesse's Restaurant from her father-in-law, Charlie Houser. She had grown up in the restaurant business in Greenville, S.C., where her father owned an Italian eatery. Nicole's vision for the restaurant in picturesque Magnolia Springs was to build on favorite dishes. She also introduced a coffee shop and a bakery, which features chef Jennifer Haffner's daily pastry creations. The other side of the revamp is less noticeable, but perhaps more important. The new team has raised Jesse's eco-friendly consciousness. Nothing, if the staff can help it, is wasted. Truckloads worth of packaging and plastics are recycled weekly. Out-of-date menus are turned into memo pads. Even the water that collects in the kitchen steam table all day is reused to mop floors at night. This winter, Nicole hired Gulf Coast Solar to install 3,120-gallon water tanks. These use the sun's energy, instead of fossil fuel, to heat 90 to 95 percent of the business's water. Solar-heated water also feeds into the conventional hot water heater. This is a substantial savings. The average home uses 20 to 30 percent of its electricity for hot water; a restaurant uses closer to 40 percent. LED lights have replaced much of the indoor lighting in the restaurant and adjacent Moore Bros. Village Market and the Cold Hole bar. The change saves 40 to 80 percent in energy usage. All outside lighting is now LED, about an 85 percent cost reduction. Green is a golden investment. Main photo: Jesse's management team, Maryann Lyden, Jennifer Haffner and Nicole Houser, haul trash to the recycle bin. Bottom left: The Houser family turned an old post office and general store into the popular Jesse's Restaurant, Cold Hole bar and Moore Bros. Village Market. Daughter-in-law Nicole, wife of Shay Houser, kicked green consciousness up a notch. Jesse's Restaurant: 14770 Oak St., Magnolia Springs. 965-3827. jessesrestaurant.com LULU'S - Alabama's Biggest Restaurant Weighs In On Sustainability As you cross the bridge from Pleasure Island to mainland Gulf Shores, you can spot a yellow flag flying over bright pink LuLu's Restaurant at Homeport Marina. A new signpost also marks the spot. In September, owner Lucy Buffett added a wind turbine to generate electricity. Lucy describes this as a "baby step" in energy conservation. In other nods to green practices, LuLu's uses biodegradable cups for the inestimable drinks it sells. Cooking oil required for all that golden seafood is stored in a 100-gallon tank until a tanker truck removes it for recycling. Perhaps even more impressive, the restaurant buys only grass-fed Alabama beef to pat into the 70,000 "Cheeseburgers in Paradise" it serves each year. Not only does this move save on fuel and other costs of transportation, it helps stabilize local suppliers in the food chain, such as Boutwell Farms. This may result in fresher, less-traveled, more nutritional food for all of us. It is small wonder that the nonprofit organization SmartCoast is honoring LuLu's with this year's Giraffe Award for "sticking its neck out to become sustainable." Both Jesse's and LuLu's have incorporated many resource-efficient practices that will positively affect their companies, as well as the community at large. It takes passionate people to be role models and to commit to ongoing best environmental practices. But, as LuLu's general manager, Johnny Fisher, reminds other business owners, going green does not have to be an all or nothing proposition. "Every small, individual step helps," he says. Middle photo: In nine years, LuLu's Restaurant has grown from a tiny dive to a national vacation destination. Owner Lucy Buffett is proud of their biodegradable cups. Right photo: LuLu's "Bama Breeze" outdoor bar is named after a Jimmy Buffett song. In the distance, a wind turbine generates electricity for the restaurant. Lulu's at Homeport Marina: 200 E. 25th Ave., Gulf Shores. 967-5858. lulusathomeport.com Boutwell Farms makes deliveries of grass-fed beef and pastured pork to consumers in Mobile and Baldwin Counties. 334-649-7690. Order online: boutwellfarms.com Photos by Dennis Holt.