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Anderson-poster.pdfLeah Anderson
During my time as a Starbucks barista, I constantly caught myself feeling guilty about all of the waste we produced. I would brainstorm ways to be more sustainable, but it is hard to implement these changes for a corporation as large as Starbucks. I have been to smaller-scale coffeeshops that have begun their journey to becoming more sustainable and it inspired me to dive deeper into the topic. It was announced in our ENS 300 class that Outside Coffee Co, an extension of Woosah Outfitters, was looking for ways to become more sustainable in its practices. As a coffee lover and supporter of local businesses, I was thrilled to take this on as a case study.One of the first things I noticed was little mentioning of sustainability on the Outside Coffee Co website. The first critical component to become a sustainable business is to have a mission statement for sustainability or environmental responsibility. For example, Starbucks environmental mission statement is committing to “a role of environmental leadership in all facets of our business.” It is important to let customers know that the business cares about sustainability and its environmental impact. Additionally, customers typically like a business that is transparent with its actions and they are more inclined to interact with a brand that supports a cause, such as environmental issues. Having an environmental mission statement, a sustainability website page or blog, or a sustainability report are just a couple of ways to let customers know the business values environmental responsibility.
Reducing the amount of waste is also an important component for a coffee shop. Outside Coffee Co stated it does not produce a lot of waste in general , but there are easy solutions to minimize the waste even further. One example of a coffee shop that does an amazing job at reducing waste is LemonJel los in downtown Hol land. There are no trash bins available to the customers. Al l dishes and waste go into the same container and are later sorted by employees. While most businesses have a hard time operating like this, there are ways to make sure the waste is properly sorted. One solution is to have separate bins for recycling, compost, and waste. The Kent County Department of Publ ic Works is a great resource to look to for understanding what can and cannot be recycled. Oftentimes, customers are not sure about what can and cannot be recycled so i t is beneficial to have informative signs placed near or on the bins.
One easy alternative that many coffeeshops are leaning towards are ditching plastic or styrofoam materials for biodegradable, compostable, or multi-use materials. Currently Outside Coffee Co uses all compostable materials from cups to straws to trash bags. Customers will be more likely to bring a reusable coffee cup if there is an incentive in place. For example, Outside Coffee Co has a 25 cent discount for those who bring in a reusable cup. Providing reusable cups, plates, and silverware is a great way to reduce waste. Customers can put their dirty dishes in a bin for employees to wash later. If togo containers or cups are necessary, biodegradable materials are the better option. Compostable materials require special composting conditions and are likely to just go straight to the landfill.
Composting can be made easy for local businesses in the Grand Rapids area. Local farm organizations are eager to encourage composting by offering a collection service. Currently Outside Coffee Co utilizes Urban Roots to compost its food waste. Urban Roots offers residential and commercial composting collection within their site area for a small monthly fee. Outside Coffee Co does not mention where its food is sourced, so it is important to note that it is beneficial to source food locally when available to reduce the environmental impact. On the plus side, Outside Coffee Co does offer plant-based options which helps reduce its environmental impact. In the case of surplus food, one solution besides composting is to donate i t to local hunger-relief agencies.
By far the most relevant aspect of a sustainable coffee shop is ethically sourced coffee beans. Coffee shops, such as the well-known Madcap, are already ahead of the game when it comes to sourcing their coffee. Madcap visits farms every year to build connections with the growers so that the coffee can come from a place that has a low social and environmental impact. It is always ideal to go with ethically sourced coffee and certifications, such as Fair Trade, are a plus. Outside Coffee Co's coffee is locally roasted, but I could not find any mention of where coffee is sourced, so if it is ethically sourced it would be valuable to have that information available for customers.
Outside Coffee Co already does an amazing job partnering with environmental organizations and making it known that it loves and cherishes the environment. Outside Coffee Co has made a significant effort to include sustainable practices in its operations, but there are still many solutions that can make it even more environmentally conscious.
Misiak-poster.pdfDuncan Misiak
The Outside Coffee Co is a local business to Grand Rapids Michigan, they are focused on connecting the community to the outdoors. The coffee shop is owned by a larger company named Woosah, also local to Grand Rapids. Outside Coffee Co emphasizes the concept of value into nature and doing your part to make it better. They are actively trying to improve their overall sustainability as an organization, they currently are using compostable cutlery, straws, bowls, trash bags, lids, and cups. Additionally they are composting all their food waste with Urban Roots, another local company to Grand Rapids focusing on embedding communities with sustainability practices to better connect them as a whole. The coffee shop also offers a discount to customers who bring in their own reusable cups instead of using the compostable cups, 25 cents off your total purchase. Inside of the coffee truck there is a compost bucket, recycling bin and trash bin; for the customers there's just a trash can currently. You can see through their actions that they are operating under a few key principles, being firstly connecting with the community to effectively advocate for sustainability, second being reduction of environmental footprint, and third being the importance of remembering the environment's true value.When we start thinking about the Outside Coffee Co within the framework of the Triple Bottom Line, you can see they have the three necessary components. First off you can see the company and its relations with its customers, they have attracted a niche group of coffee goers that all share most of the company's key principles. The company strives to show the customers the beauty and value of the land, by incorporating it into their company concept; The food truck and the nice outside seating surrounded by plants and nature. Another way to think of the social aspect is the company connecting with the Urban Roots organization, branching out and benefiting more than themselves in the name of sustainability. On the environmental leg of the Triple Bottom Line you can see they are taking their steps also, converting to compostable tableware, actively composting, recycling their trash waste, and implementing practices to increase reusable cup use. In regards to the economic aspect of the Triple Bottom Line, the company's success has to do a lot with their principles, and their principles playing right into the social and environmental aspects of the TBL. Their cash flow is increased by the variable of their little environmental impact and sustainable practices, drawing in customers because of their niche operating practices.
As you can see they are taking solid steps to reduce their environmental footprint, in a direct manner with the composting and recycling, and in an indirect manner with their encouragement in using sustainable practices like the reusable cups. Their use of Urban Roots really shows their dedication to the cause, simultaneously facilitating Urban Roots to then prosper and grow themselves. One thing that is missing is a location for the customers to be able to recycle/compost their trash from the coffee truck. You are presenting yourself to the customers as this eco-friendly group who does its part to contribute to overall sustainability, but yet the customers don’t get a chance to take part and do their share. Another weak spot would be the economic side of things in regards to the Triple Bottom Line, besides them gaining revenue due to their progressive daily operations and principles, they aren’t gaining much in regards to economic value. The transition from plastic to compostable cups and such was not a profitable switch, but it’s imperative that businesses see that’s a necessary switch. With the Outside Coffee Co being so willing to achieve maximum sustainability and their previous steps to get there, I would say their overall efforts put them above average in terms of sustainability. When taking into account their small operating space (the truck) and their multiple steps towards a greener operating system, their environmental impact is reasonably low and their community impact is high.
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