Dine @ Houston's FIRST Green Certified Restaurant!! Ruggles Green..

GRA: 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.

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.
-Butterfly Mixer