What We Do
GCN GREEN BUSINESS SUPPORT
GCN helps small businesses:
- Reduce and divert solid waste
- Reduce energy use
- Conserve water resources
- Eliminate toxic chemicals
- Minimize and prevent pollution
- Improve product purchasing choices
We do this by:
- Assisting our member cafes and clients to identify areas for reducing their environmental impacts and saving money.
- Facilitating the sharing of Best Management Practices (BMPs) among member cafes through our list-serve and workshops.
- Establishing collective discounts with suppliers of eco-friendly and/or locally produced products (i.e. recycled paper products, compostable take away products, cleaning products, organic milk and foods).
- Organizing workshops related to green business and ecological sustainability for member cafe staff.
- Providing up-to-date information to GCN member cafes on the latest information, resources and savings potential associated with running a green small business.
- Assisting our member cafes and clients with tracking their resource consumption and conservation goals (i.e. energy use, water use and waste).
COMMUNITY EDUCATION
Our Community Education program is dedicated to harnessing café culture for environmental education, inspiration and action. We aim to foster environmental literacy among our member cafes and their local communities. We do this by:
- Organizing public events such as film screenings, speakers series and eco-art exhibits in our member cafes.
- Providing workshops or events related to green business and ecological sustainability - open to staff from any café or restaurant.
- Partnering with other local community and environmental organizations to develop unique resources, campaigns and initiatives to bring sustainability to the mainstream and inspire a culture of environmental responsibility
Contact us to discuss your cafe’s green business goals. GCN is committed to greening the coffeehouse industry – so we want to work with you to improve the planet and your business!
