What Makes Us Green?
Green Restaurant Association Certification: What It Means
The Green Restaurant Association is a non-profit group that establishes the criteria restaurants must follow to become certified. In order to gain certification, the establishment must create programs in each of the GRA environmental categories, which are: Energy, Water, Waste, Disposables, Chemical & Pollution Reduction Sustainable Food, Sustainable Furnishings & Building Materials.
There are minimum requirements that must be met to gain certification:
Accumulate a total of 100 points during review, meet minimum points in each mandatory category, establish full-scale recycling program, free from use of polystyrene foam(styrofoam) and create an annual education program. Ruggles Green River Oaks is a 3-Star Certified Green Restaurant, and Ruggles Green CITYCENTRE is a 4-Star Certified Green Restaurant (the only in Texas, and only one of two in the US!)
For more information about the GRA, or to review what Ruggles Green is doing to excel in our green efforts, visit www.dinegreen.com.
Being Green: It’s What We Do
At Ruggles Green, we take this concept very seriously — it’s who we are. Not only do we incorporate organic, all-natural, hormone-free, preservative-free products to keep you healthy, we’ve created programs to help the environment stay healthy too.
We recycle all of our glass, paper, cardboard, plastic, and metal. We even recycle our fry oil to convert into biofuel. We absolutely do not use styrofoam. Our employees wear comfy hemp t-shirts and bamboo hats. We even educate our staff on green principles and practices. There are SO many more things we do. For a complete listing of our efforts, please read our Environmental Policy.
Organic & Biodynamic
Organic-grape growing avoids the use of synthetic chemicals and uses natural methods like crop rotation, tillage and natural composts to maintain soil health, as well as natural methods to control weeds, insects and other pests.
Organic farms emphasize the use of renewable resources and the conservation of soil and water to enhance environmental quality for future generations. To achieve organic certification, no conventual pesticides are used. Fertilizers are made with synthetic ingredients or sewage sludge, bio-engineering or ionizing radiation.
Biodynamic is the highest form of organic farming. It goes beyond the elimination of all chemical inputs. It incorporates the environment in and around the vineyard and works with nature to apply the knowledge of life forces to bring back about balance and healing in the soil.
For more information on these subjects, please click here.
So, What Can I Do?
Cut out your junk mail at home. There is a great company called Green Dimes that allows you to opt out of all unwanted junk mail to prevent unneeded waste paper and deforestation. The program is a breeze to use. Just visit their website to get started today. For information about this great program, please visit www.greendimes.com.
