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not only inspired Giovanetti, but also the Specialty Coffee Association of America's (SCAA) Sustainability Council. Providing even more resources and instruction to café owners on how they can achieve sustainability and utilize green practices is what we have aimed to do with the forthcoming SCAA Green Guide: a set of best practices I worked on with the Sustainability Council. But before I go into detail about the Green Guide, please bear with me for a reality check just to make sure we're all on the level here. Most of us in the coffee world have already heard about how changing climate patterns are making our precious coffee beans more and more difficult and, in many cases, more expensive to produce. If this sounds like news to you, I encourage you to reach out to your producing and exporting partners to really understand the uncertain conditions they increasingly face with each crop year. Efforts to be a part of the solution to the environmental challenges faced by our producing partners are already underway within our industry. Certification programs, for example, are one consideration that many of us have incorporated into our buying decisions so that we can be assured that our choices have a minimized negative impact on the environment and producing communities we depend on. These programs, however, are often prescriptive in that consuming nations are telling our partners at origin how we need them to produce our coffees. Although this is a great start toward change at one step of the coffee life cycle chain, it doesn't address our impact at the retail level. The SCAA's Tracy Ging recently noted in her Chronicle article discussing the "The Low Impact Café" program of which the Green Guide is a component: "There have been a few studies looking at the carbon footprint of coffee through its entire life cycle, from the beginning at the farm level through transit to roasting and lastly, to coffee's final point of enjoyment. Each study concluded the main area of impact is toward the end of the value chain, either at the café or at home with the consumer." So let's do our part where we can, since it can be said (and has been) that some of our more wasteful behaviors are likely contributing to climate change that impacts the entire planet; we all want to do our part, don't we? First Steps Toward a Green Café If this all sounds intimidating, let's take a step back. Yes, greening your café is a big subject, and potentially a large and ongoing project. But Henninger encourages café owners to take small steps at first to implement changes, just to get going. They will then likely be inspired to dive deeper with more sustainable practices later on. "It's pretty common to feel daunted, and I think the most important thing is to do something," says Henninger. "Each business is different in so many ways, so do whatever seems realistic for your particular café, and start with the low-hanging fruit. Try to identify all of the tasks that can be done, and organize those into short-term and longer- term or 'easy' and 'challenging'—whatever works for you. Tackling the short-term actions can help you get momentum and start seeing results that will motivate you toward making time for the larger projects." Many café owners might also be curious about what kind of monetary commitment going green will require, and there's no easy answer. It'll also depend on whether your café is already open, or if it's still in the design phase. It'll also depend on how many square feet the café is, how much electricity it uses, and how new a build it is in general. "It's a financial commitment in the sense that many of the technical actions— like switching to high-efficiency lighting or appliances—will require initial investment. But most of these energy- saving investments really pay off and end up saving the business a lot money in the long term," says Henninger. "On the other hand, there are so many actions that don't require much money, such as maintaining appliances and equipment so they run efficiently, turning off lights whenever possible, fixing leaks as soon as they are found, etc. Most of the daily behaviors that are associated with running a green business are simply a matter of changing habits, and that doesn't cost much money— just training, time and patience." Approaching the Guide Last fall, I sat and listened as leadership of both the Barista Guild of America (BGA) and Roaster's Guild (RG) approached the Sustainability Council with requests coming from their members for us to begin to develop recommendations toward more responsible practices. To be honest, once we fully digested this request as a council and were left to ponder the enormity of the undertaking, we were first a bit overwhelmed thinking about how to help to guide more responsible practices for such a broad group of stakeholders. The options for going greener in your café are limitless, and resources—both free and available at a cost—exist for your use. Before you make a financial commitment, however, here are some ways you can get your staff and space in order and ready for the task: • Form a "green team" with staff members from all areas of your coffeehouse (e.g., kitchen and/or bakery staff, if you have them, as well as all baristas and bar backs). • Create short-term and long-term objectives, and focus on one project at a time. • Promote what you're doing: customers will get excited by your café's efforts to be more sustainable; it will most likely increase customer loyalty. So make signs describing what you're doing and why, and talk to customers about it. • Make sure all voices are heard: Every employee should be appreciated for the attention he or she is paying these new practices and measures, and new ideas should always be reviewed. • Check out the Green Café Network's website, greencafenetwork.org, for starting points and tips from other café owners about how they got their cafés in better, greener shape. • Tell the world: It's important not just to tell your customers about your efforts, but also your colleagues throughout the specialty coffee industry. Not only will you inspire others to make the same changes you and your café have undertaken, but you will also undoubtedly learn about ways other café owners have made a difference. www.baristamagazine.com 71