GREEN minded Ulverston restaurateurs have joined a carbon free dining initiative to reduce their eatery's impact on the environment.

L’al Churrasco's owners have signed up to the Carbon Free Dining initiative, which is managed by managed by The United Nations Environment partner, Green Earth Appeal.

By being a carbon free dining certified partner, L’al Churrasco plants hundreds of trees each month, counterbalancing the environmental impact of the meals it serves.

This is done by simply giving its diners the opportunity to plant a fruit tree with each bill for an optional 99p.

Restaurant owner Harrison Albion said: "We're proud of where we live - Cumbria and The Lakes are naturally beautiful and our surroundings are enough to inspire us all to make better choices, minimising our impact on the planet.

"At L'al Churrasco we avoid importing meat, we only use MSC certified fish, we don't buy out of season produce and we use local suppliers to keep jobs and money in the local economy."

The initiative already has some big names backing it, including celebrity chefs Marco Pierre White and James Martin.

And the rapidly growing programme has already counterbalanced the negative environmental impact of more than 500,000 meals.

The team at L'al Churrasco is keen to reduce its overall impact on the environment. Staff work hard to recycle all glass, plastics and cardboard and it has got rid of plastic straws in favour of an eco-friendly alternative.

"Carbon Free Dining helps us to go one step further with the sustainable, responsible choices we're making," said Mr Albion. "It helps our customers to get involved and helps us all to counterbalance the environmental impact of the meals we serve."

He explained that the customer response to the initiative had so far been 'amazing' and more than 200 trees had so far been planted thanks to their customers.