Many San Antonio businesses are getting in on the green act, too. Check out these examples:

GREEN VEGETARIAN CUISINE serves only vegetarian food, which is environmentally friendly because the livestock industry is a major contributor to greenhouse gases. Green also is powered by renewable wind energy from CPS Energy's Windtricity.

THE COVE serves only organic greens and uses environmentally friendly to-go containers (as in, no Styrofoam).

TEXAS FARM TO TABLE uses local and regional ingredients when possible and also uses biodegradable packaging.

JUPITER JAVA AND JAZZ serves organic and fair-trade coffee.

RUTA MAYA RIVERWALK COFFEE HOUSE does the same.

L&M BOOKSTORE sells college textbooks and announced in January that it was at 70 percent of its goal of planting 100,000 trees. As part of the “Buy A Book, Build a Forest” campaign, L&M also rewards students who buy and sell used textbooks and UTSA faculty who elect to use textbooks for extended periods of time.

“The ‘Buy a Book, Build a Forest' campaign is an easy yet powerful way to involve college students in planting trees and improving the environment,” said John Rosenow, president of the Arbor Day Foundation, in a news release. “A single tree can provide an estimated $273 worth of environmental benefits in just one year.”

CLOTHESLINE CLEANERS does not use any chemicals in its “wet cleaning” approach at their four San Antonio locations. They use biodegradable cleaning agents, and their EcoHangers are made with recycled paper.

SEAWORLD reuses condensed water from its air-conditioning units and has installed water-saving toilets.

Clint Hale and Jessica Belasco | 210SA