Cristina’s Café in Strasburg has been designated a Virginia Green Certified restaurant by Commonwealth of Virginia. The unique recognition serves as confirmation that going green is a good thing for co-owner sisters Wendy Willis and Crissy Willis-Maddox.

“When my sister Wendy and I started the business, we made a big effort to incorporate environmentally responsible products and practices into our restaurant. Some parts of our Green program do cost us a little more, but it’s the responsible thing to be doing especially here in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley,” said co-owner Crissy Willis-Maddox.

Virginia Green is a statewide program to reduce environmental impacts of Virginia’s tourism industry. It is a partnership between Virginia Tourism Corporation and Virginia Department of Environmental Quality.

The program awards Virginia Green Certification to tourism-related
businesses taking voluntary actions to reduce harmful impacts on the environment. Environmentally friendly business practices adopted by Cristina’s make it a natural fit for the Virginia Green program. In addition to using bio-degradable corn and cane products for carryout
items, the café has instituted energy and water saving measures as well as buy-local sourcing for in-season produce, meat ingredients and the locally roasted fair-trade coffee it serves guests.

“Current marketing buzz aside, going green does not have to mean expensive, exotic or elitist, it’s more about being creative and responsible for your actions,” said co-owner Wendy Willis.

Some of the more unique aspects of Cristina’s Café go-green initiative include an on-site herb & produce garden, a composting bin for vegetable waste, and partnership with a local farm to repurpose
other food waste for agriculture purposes – feeding a pig.

What does it take to be a Virginia Green Restaurant?
1. Minimize use of disposable food service products
2. Recycle Grease
3. Recycle and Reduce Waste
4. Use Water Efficiently
5. Conserve Energy

“Virginia Green is a new and important focus for Virginia’s tourism industry, as we work to educate ourselves and improve upon how we treat the natural habitat that helps make Virginia a top travel destination,” said Alisa Bailey, president and CEO of the Virginia Tourism Corporation.

The Virginia Green designation awarded to Cristina’s Cafe comes as a result of an on-going Strasburg Chamber of Commerce Tourism Committee GET LISTED campaign. The focus of GET LISTED is to develop partnerships in the business community and increase visibility of Strasburg to  travelers via the state's tourism website and mobile applications set to launch in 2010. As a result of GET LISTED, Strasburg now has 700% more businesses listed on the Virginia is for Lovers website promoting themselves and Town of Strasburg as a great place to visit. “That's 700% more reasons for travelers to make Strasburg part of their travel itinerary, which ultimately generates
non-resident meals & lodging tax revenue for the town and helps keep the tax rate paid by local residents lower,” said committee member Doug Miller.

Locally, tourism is a $344 million growth industry in Shenandoah & Frederick Counties, providing over 3,600 jobs and generating $11 million in local tax revenue. Statewide, tourism is a $17.7 billion industry, generating $1.2 billion in state and local taxes and providing 208,000 jobs.

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