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Dining & Food

Sparrow is one of several Houston restaurants with a focus on sustainability

Did you know that food and packaging waste accounts for roughly half of what we throw away every day? It's not always easy to be eco-friendly when dining out, but you can make smart choices in the places you go, what you order and even how you get there.

• Try to only take the condiments, napkins and utensils that you need. 
• Eat at restaurants that have adopted green practices, those that use locally sourced products when possible, recycle and have low-energy fixtures installed.
• Look for organic items on the menu.
• If you take home leftovers, ask if they can be wrapped in aluminum foil instead of a styrofoam box.
• If you know portion sizes are excessive, consider sharing a meal or ask for smaller portions to reduce waste.

A number of Houston area restaurants are on the sustainability bandwagon. Some focus on locally sourced food while others are taking a complete top to bottom approach.

At Ruggles Green, the chefs use organic, all-natural, hormone-free, preservative-free products. All of the glass, paper, cardboard, plastic, and metal used in the restaurant is recycled. Ruggles Green even recycles its fry oil to convert into biofuel. The location at Houston CityCentre was the first restaurant in Texas to earn a four-star certification from the Green Restaurant Association.

At Chef Monica Pope's acclaimed restaurant Sparrow Bar + Cookshop, local is the name of the game. The focus is on telling the story of Houston through locally sourced dishes.The menu changes regularly, depending on what's available. 

Click here for a list of locally driven restaurants in town.

And click here for a rundown of farmer's markets in the area.