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More Avenues for Practicing Sustainability Truly, there are more resources available to café owners seeking advice and tips for incorporating green practices into their cafés than ever before. But one of the best ways café owners can empower themselves as successful greeners is to involve their staff in the process. "When the staff is all on board and feel like they have a stake in the process, then it can be much more rewarding for the business as a whole, not to mention that staff usually bring in creative ideas that are great for your particular café," Henninger says. When Gary Leiman's son, who was working as a barista in his Michigan café for a summer during college, approached his dad about switching to biodegradable cups, changing to LED light bulbs, and other systems he'd learned about as an Environmental Studies student, his dad took his advice. "At first I didn't know how it would go over with the staff," says Leiman. "But they were really excited, and everyone seemed to have ideas. I thought to myself, 'Why didn't we do this sooner?'" It wasn't long before Leiman's barista staff had gotten so enthusiastic about the café's new practices, that they were talking it up to the customers. "One of the most common things I hear from the folks that run green cafés is that they want to find ways to communicate better to customers about all of the great things they are doing to lower their impacts on the planet," says Henninger. "Since most actions are behind the counter, it can be hard for customers to notice, and challenging to get that message across." But your café's green practices are not only good for the planet, they can be great marketing tools. "I realized that my customers like to link themselves to feel-good things," Leiman says. "My customers were proud to carry cups that were biodegradable, especially the teenagers. It's cool!" Henninger suggests being creative and trying different methods for communicating your café's green efforts to the customers. "In most cases, some kind of signage is effective so that customers can read about what great work you're doing, but the key is to make signs that fit your café's aesthetic and make sure they are placed appropriately for where your customers hang out, or where they wait in line or even near the menu board," she says. "The more creative the better, of course, so that people are drawn www.baristamagazine.com 75 to check out the sign and read what's going on. If signs aren't your style, then the staff can chat with customers when they are ordering, ringing them up, etc., and share some great news with them about the café's latest effort to go green." In the end, it's about creating new habits and encouraging a new way of thinking about how to run your business. For Shonda Fallibrook of West Hempstead, N.Y., it came down to her pride in her second home: the café where she works, Witches Brew. "I love this place, so I want to take care of it. I want it to grow. And I want it to be a good neighbor, and a good resident," she says. "I recycle at home, and I'm good about using low-energy bulbs and composting and stuff. Why should I do it there and not here? Going green like this just makes perfect sense." For more tips on going green, see page 77!