There are many reasons for why three in five restaurants fail within five years of throwing open the doors: overly ambitious business plans, tough competition, lack of a coherent marketing strategy. The list goes on.

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More often than not, however, it’s the daily margins – how much you’re making on every burger, salad, or sundae – that prove the impossible puzzle. So it shouldn’t surprise anyone that going green out of the gate is seen by many a restaurateur as a dangerous luxury, a way to all but guarantee a quick-ticking clock to broke and belly up.

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Priscilla Lane-Rondeau never bought into that false equivalency, and her business – Manchester’s famed 900 Degrees Neopolitan Pizzeria, which opened a second location in Epping last winter – is about to go to the next level because of it.

“It’s not like I’m alone on this – customers really do want it,” Lane-Rondeau exclaims. “People go out of their way to tell us how supportive they are of our practices. I even had one woman call me and ask whether any of our ingredients used GMOs. I appreciate that. People are coming here because it’s a green restaurant – because it’s the right thing to do.”

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• Sources local, organic ingredients when and where possible

• LED and motion sensors lighting throughout the restaurant

• Paints and finishes all low-VOC

• Named "Green Champion" by New Hampshire Lodging and Restaurant Program

• Recipient of 2012 "Green Pledge" decal from Greater Manchster Chamber of Commerce

• Offer guests water on request only

• Low-flow kitchen appliances

• Comprehensive recycling program

• Recycled paper throughout the premises

• Green-certified cleaning products

• Reduced waste by over 50% since opening

• Communicated with vendors to green delivery packaging

• 8 of 24 wine offerings are organic