Making Green Being Green

Now well into my forties, I took a reprieve from a stressful management position and, with my husband, decided to move our family half-way across the U.S. to be closer to my aging parents.  This meant leaving a high-paying job and scaling back our lifestyle. 

Moving and leaving the job gave me the freedom to try my entrepreneurial hand and (with my sister) open a coffeehouse in a historical building that currently housed a group of artists.   Our goal was to create a venue that would focus on “creativity, quality, and community.”   Many said that it would never work, that the area was too depressed, and no one in this area cared about organic or fair trade coffee, nor would they pay more for it.   

Fortunately, this "small" group of artists decided that our combined efforts could contribute and give back to this community.  Our will to bring the arts, fair trade and organic coffee and to create a space for community to flourish in an under-served area was strong.

We also made a pledge to be a responsible business. At this time we serve only fair trade and organic coffee, use Greenware instead of plastic, recycle, use post-consumer paper products and encourage conservation.   The t-shirts we sell are not yet organic cotton, but they are guaranteed sweat-shop free.   We also pay our starting baristas well above minimum wage.   I have personally traded down to a New Beetle to illustrate my own commitment to conservation.

Even though it costs more to be green –  and we are not a big corporation that can buy in bulk and save –  we have not seen negative changes to our bottom line and the business continues to grow.   This business has also afforded us the opportunity to educate the community about being green and what it means.  The response and support has been overwhelmingly positive and the critics silenced.

It’s a green wave that we’re riding and I am glad to be a part of walking the talk at the Red Mug coffeehouse in Superior, Wisconsin.

Kat Eldred