Green Restaurant Certification
Encyclopedia
The Green Restaurant Association (GRA) is a United States non-profit organization
that provides certification
for restaurants to become more environmentally responsible. Since 1990, the GRA has been building an extensive database of environmental goals for the restaurant
industry.
Green Restaurant Certification allows diners to be able to rely on their favorite restaurant’s environmental claims and communicates credibility
.
The GRA rates existing restaurants and food service operations with points in seven environmental categories. These categories are water efficiency
, waste reduction and recycling
, sustainable furnishings and building materials, sustainable food, energy
, disposables, chemical and pollution
reduction.
Certified Green Restaurants need to accumulate points to be certified, have a full-scale recycling program, be free of Polystyrene Foam (a.k.a. Styrofoam
), and fulfill yearly education
requirements.
Non-profit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...
that provides certification
Certification
Certification refers to the confirmation of certain characteristics of an object, person, or organization. This confirmation is often, but not always, provided by some form of external review, education, assessment, or audit...
for restaurants to become more environmentally responsible. Since 1990, the GRA has been building an extensive database of environmental goals for the restaurant
Restaurant
A restaurant is an establishment which prepares and serves food and drink to customers in return for money. Meals are generally served and eaten on premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services...
industry.
Green Restaurant Certification allows diners to be able to rely on their favorite restaurant’s environmental claims and communicates credibility
Credibility
Credibility refers to the objective and subjective components of the believability of a source or message.Traditionally, modern, credibility has two key components: trustworthiness and expertise, which both have objective and subjective components. Trustworthiness is based more on subjective...
.
The GRA rates existing restaurants and food service operations with points in seven environmental categories. These categories are water efficiency
Water efficiency
Water efficiency can be defined as:# The accomplishment of a function, task, process, or result with the minimal amount of water feasible;# An indicator of the relationship between the amount of water required for a particular purpose and the amount of water used or delivered.Though the two are...
, waste reduction and recycling
Recycling
Recycling is processing used materials into new products to prevent waste of potentially useful materials, reduce the consumption of fresh raw materials, reduce energy usage, reduce air pollution and water pollution by reducing the need for "conventional" waste disposal, and lower greenhouse...
, sustainable furnishings and building materials, sustainable food, energy
Energy
In physics, energy is an indirectly observed quantity. It is often understood as the ability a physical system has to do work on other physical systems...
, disposables, chemical and pollution
Pollution
Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into a natural environment that causes instability, disorder, harm or discomfort to the ecosystem i.e. physical systems or living organisms. Pollution can take the form of chemical substances or energy, such as noise, heat or light...
reduction.
Certified Green Restaurants need to accumulate points to be certified, have a full-scale recycling program, be free of Polystyrene Foam (a.k.a. Styrofoam
Styrofoam
Styrofoam is a trademark of The Dow Chemical Company for closed-cell currently made for thermal insulation and craft applications. In 1941, researchers in Dow's Chemical Physics Lab found a way to make foamed polystyrene...
), and fulfill yearly education
Education
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
requirements.