LiveSmart BC Community Hero
LiveSmart BC Community Hero: Java Jive Neighbourhood Bistro
When Nadina and Barry Dearing bought Java Jive coffee shop a year ago, they were committed to making it an environmentally friendly business. And that hasn’t been as easy as it might sound considering most of the customers want their coffees and lunches in takeout containers.
“We’ve almost ruined the world and I didn’t want to open a business and then have all that stuff in the garbage.”
What Nadina has done to avoid filling up the landfill is impressive.
The coffee grounds are organic and given to a local farmer for composting. Their takeout cups, cutlery, wrappers, boxes, stir sticks and straws are biodegradable. The cutlery is made of cornstarch and breaks down in heat so quickly you can watch it in action.
“The coffee cups have ripple wraps so you don’t have to have a second cup or wrap for it. They can go in the mixed paper [recycle bin] if they’re clean.”
Under the counters where you would normally find the garbage the customer is given a number of recycling options.
Nadina spends a lot of time at the recycling depot. They go through 60 four-litre milk jugs a week. She said most business owners don’t take the time to recycle because it is so time consuming. Not only that, buying organic, recyclable and biodegradable products are a lot pricer than Styrofoam products that go straight to the landfill.
They can’t charge more so they just do with less profit. That’s the price Nadina says she’s happy to pay to help the environment. At the end of each working day, they have only one bag of garbage that goes to the landfill.
However, Nadina said she would be happier if Java Jive wasn’t known primarily for their environmentally friendly practices. It would be better, she said, if all businesses were like that.
“I’d rather be known for the good coffee.”
