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ATLANTA — On Monday afternoon, the Atlanta Hawks and State Farm Arena, in partnership with Georgia Natural Gas, hosted a Sustainability Summit for local restauranteurs.

As part of the afternoon, participants learned more about how to implement free and low-cost sustainability practices directly from industry leaders through various panels, presentations, and workshops and toured the award-winning downtown Atlanta venue to see how the world’s first zero-waste venue handles games, concerts and events.

“We are all a part of the solution,” Sofi Armenakian, Head of Sustainability, Hawks and State Farm Arena said. “We can accomplish so much more when we work together so it’s imperative that we stay true to our community and share what we’ve learned along this journey with businesses in our own backyard.”

The afternoon tipped off with Armenakian leading an information session providing insights on how consumers are more likely to support companies with established sustainability practices. In that session, Roger McClendon, Executive Sustainability Consultant, shared easy-to-implement sustainability best practices that cut down on food and beverage waste as well as energy. Afterwards, Armenakian moderated a panel with Hawks and State Farm Arena Chief Culinary Officer Chef G. Garvin and Robert DiCicco, Vice President of Hospitality andamp; Strategy, Levy Restaurants. In this discussion, they shared the zero-waste journey of State Farm Arena’s food and beverage program and explained how sustainable practices were implemented. Freddy Money, the culinary director of Garden Room and The Atlas, also shared insights into how he reduced costs and waste while Chef Douglas McMaster, owner of Silo shared how he achieved the world’s first zero waste restaurant.

“We’re very proud of the food and beverage program here at State Farm Arena,” Garvin said. “We’ve incorporated a number of initiatives that help us operate greener while still providing a world-class dining experience to our guests. You can be sustainable without compromising on quality.”

Georgia Natural Gas provided an overview of their Greener Life for Business program that gives businesses a simple way to offset the carbon emissions from their natural gas usage. They continued with an open conversation with CompostNow, Kimberly Clark, and Haulin’ Glass to educate these restaurant owners on other ways to enhance their sustainability practices.

“We’ve truly enjoyed our collaboration with the Atlanta Hawks and State Farm Arena to elevate the discussion around sustainability,” said Chris Turner, Managing Director of B2B Markets, Georgia Natural Gas. “As evidenced by the half-billion pounds of carbon offsets we have retired on behalf of over 30,000 homes and businesses across Georgia, making a conscious decision to support programs that help the environment really matters.”

After the presentations, the local restauranteurs were provided with a behind-the-scenes, sustainability-focused tour of State Farm Arena. The guests were treated to a happy hour on the Georgia Natural Gas Greener Life Loft Level at State Farm Arena and participated in a raffle.

In October 2023, the Atlanta Hawks and State Farm Arena announced a multi-year, sustainability-focused partnership with Georgia Natural Gas, making the Atlanta-based corporation the official natural gas provider for the Hawks and State Farm Arena. The two organizations have teamed up to help State Farm Arena offset 100% of its natural gas usage by joining the “Greener Life for Business” program. Through the program, Georgia Natural Gas continues to calculate the amount of greenhouse gases released from the venue’s natural gas usage and retire carbon offsets to balance 100% of those emissions.