MUSE School was named Greenest Restaurant in the World by the Green Restaurant Association earlier this month when its kitchen was upgraded to a four-star Certified Green Restaurant with over 550 green points — a 185-point improvement from last year.
The MUSE kitchen implemented two steps to drastically reduce the restaurant’s environmental impact, according to a statement from the school. The first step entails the use of 100 percent solar electricity. All of the kitchen’s lights, air conditioning, electric cooking equipment, refrigerators and freezers are entirely powered by the sun.
The second step involved changing the menu to be entirely plant-based. Over an 18-month period, MUSE gradually replaced animal-based items with plant-based ones, while educating students and families about the environmental benefits of a plant-based diet. The kitchen now refrains from serving any animal-based products, including cheese, eggs, chicken, beef or fish.
“It’s our hope to share MUSE School’s best practices with the greater restaurant community, magnifying the positive effect plant-based eating and green kitchen practices have on the environment,” MUSE School founders Suzy Amis Cameron and Rebecca Amis wrote in the statement.
Located in Calabasas, MUSE School’s mission is to inspire and prepare young people ages two through grade 12 to live consciously with themselves, one another and the planet.