HOUSTON—You have probably noticed it on store shelves; products labeled all-natural, organic and environmentally friendly. But it’s not just your groceries that are going green. Local businesses are cashing in by marketing themselves as green, including a newly-opened restaurant, Ruggles Green.
Chef Bruce Malzan and his green-marketing partner Federico Marques were working on a whole new concept for casual dining just before Hurricane Ike arrived and caused damage. Then last month, the building caught fire during renovations.
The partners have come up with something fresh and new for the public. When they said they were going green, they meant it.
These two savvy and socially – conscious businessmen each have two different specialties. One handles the food, and the other handles the environmental surroundings.
“I think Fred is the pioneer in the green. I’m the cook he’s the green guy. I stay away from the green, he stays away from the kitchen,” said Malzan.
“We use all natural meats; never frozen, no antibiotics, no steroids. It makes an unbelievable difference,” said Malzan.
Recycling and sustainability are what set this restaurant apart from the others. The wait staff wears T-shirts made from hemp, tables are made from bamboo and even the pizza oven is made from reclaimed granite.
Restaurants are the largest commercial user of electricity and produce 150,000 pounds of garbage every year and the Ruggles team have implemented ways to cut back on waste.
“Our two biggest waste streams are glass. That’s why we have two glass containers and cardboard. If restaurants focused only on glass and cardboard and nothing else, they could probably reduce their landfill waste by half, “said Marques.
It’s the first Houston restaurant certified by the National Green Restaurant Association. And even outsiders say the green movement could include restaurants.
“They are looking at going green from the ground up. What exactly is the structure built out of, all the way to what kind of food are we purchasing and what are we putting on the plate,” said Mary Frances Blatchley.
With changing the way they cook and what is cooked, the Ruggles team is helping to reduce their footprint on the environment.
