Wanna Go Green? Love Caffeine? Go Green Caffeen!

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Alowishus introduces Green Caffeen.

Did you know that over a billion disposable coffee cups are thrown away each year in Australia? Most end up in landfill or the ocean.

That’s why we’ve already gone to great lengths to make sure our takeaway cups are made from eco-friendly materials that break down quickly and completely.

But now we are taking things a step further….

We are super-excited to up the ante on our mission to reduce waste by becoming a Green Caffeen café. Best of all, if you want to do your bit to help us reduce landfill even more, it’s FREE.

So, what is Green Caffeen?

Green Caffeen is a FREE reusable cup system for eco-focused cafes and coffee lovers across Australia. The goal is to make it incredibly easy for coffee lovers to make the switch from disposable cups to reusable cups.

In their words, “Cafes love it, coffee drinkers dig it and the planet high fives you for it.”

How Does It Work?

Step 1 – Ordering Your First Green Caffeen at Alowishus

Download the Green Caffeen app and fill in your details to register. 

NOTE: You will be asked for some credit card details even though the program is free. 

“But why?” you may ask. 

Well, you know how if you keep a library book you eventually get charged for it? If you keep your cup for more than 30 days, you will be charged $12.99 to recover the cost. 

Step 2

Order your coffee at Alowishus as usual (we give you 20 cents off for going green).

  • If ordering at the counter, let us know you are a Green Caffeen user
  • If ordering on the Alowishus app, select Green Caffeen cup when choosing your drink size

Step 3

Using the Green Caffeen app, scan the code which you will find on a sticker at the register or at the coffee machine – pick up point.

Step 4

Enjoy your coffee in your Green Caffeen cup knowing you are doing the planet a favour.

Step 5

Next time you order a coffee from us or another participating café (you can find them all on the Green Caffeen app), simply hand over your old cup and scan out a fresh one.

Here’s a Few Questions We’ve Been Asked Already…

What if I forget my cup?

Don’t worry, you can have up to two cups scanned out at any one time. Just make sure you return it to a participating café within 30 days.

Do I wash my cup before I return it?

Unless you love the smell of stale coffee in your car or office, it’s probably a good idea to rinse it out. But like all our cups, dishes, and cutlery we will wash it thoroughly and sanitise it before giving it to another customer. 

Can I just return a cup without ordering coffee?

Yes. Just hand us the cup and scan the code to say you have returned it.

What do I say to people who point out my reusable cup is plastic?

Green Caffeen cups are made from FDA-approved food-grade recycled plastic, which means they’re even greener than they look.

They’re also:

  • BPA free
  • 100% Australian made
  • Energy efficient to produce
  • Fully recyclable, when they eventually pack it in.

Be assured you’re part of the solution rather than the problem.

Got more questions?

Check out the Green Caffeen website here – they have lots of info on their website. 

Or just ask us how to enjoy your coffee and be kind to the planet.


READ – How we have reduced our waste to landfill by two whole industrial bins per week!

READ – Alowishus, queen of the Instagram feed

WATCH – A bit of background on our Pay It Forward Program at Alowishus Delicious

Creative Ways to Win the War on Waste

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We absolutely love hearing about the creative ways that people use some of our ‘waste’ items. As a business committed to sustainability, it’s a relief to us to know that people can use some of the items that would otherwise have to go in the bin. Reducing our waste has a significant impact on the environment, and protects our oceans and coral reefs.

Some of the items that we give away rather than put into waste include:

  • Small plastic buckets
  • Egg cartons
  • Bottle lids
  • Vege scraps
  • Used coffee grounds

So, what do people do with this stuff? Check out some of these ideas…

On the Farm

Splitters Farm take kitchen scraps and fruit pulp to feed their rescue pigs and chickens. They also take small buckets for general use around the farm such as storing seeds and portioning out feed for the animals. Visitors even use the buckets to collect eggs on the weekend tours. Carly says she loves the sense of community created by working with other businesses to reduce waste along with the social aspect of coming to town to collect the bins.

At School

We have several schools, kindies and day care centres who use our buckets to store loose bits and pieces such as buttons, beads and eye balls used for art and craft. The egg cartons get cut up and made into everything from tiny seed planters to rocket ships. One person even takes our bottle lids as they make great learning aids for tasks such as counting and probability.

On the Worksite

We are told our buckets are the perfect sizes for tradies who need to keep small amounts of excess paint, fibreglass and oil.

In the Garden

We have several people who take our used coffee grounds to add to their compost or directly to the soil. Apparently worms love it and if the worms are happy then it’s a good sign the soil is packed with nutrients. Our buckets also get used for small pot plants. They are the perfect size to start seedlings off until they are ready for transplanting.

Fundraising

Some groups use the buckets for raffles. They are especially handy when you need several containers for multiple draws.

…and Something a Bit Unusual

One of our ‘bucket beneficiaries’ uses them in their coral collecting business. They are much stronger than the single-use ones used by many in that industry and having something that can be reused is obviously much more sustainable.

What Can You Use?

If there is something you can use and help us to minimise waste in the process, please feel welcome to get in touch so we can let you know what’s available. We’d love to have you on board as part of the movement towards a more sustainable way of doing business.

READ – How we have reduced our waste to landfill by two whole industrial bins per week!

READ – 13 Ways to use Old Coffee Grounds

READ – More about out War on Waste!

WATCH – Come along with us as we visit some our suppliers and surprise them with some of our delicious, house-made gelato – made using their very own produce.

https://youtu.be/b8CpIY0caiw

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle – Alowishus Making A Difference In The World Of Waste

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war on waste

In the past several months, Alowishus has further increased its efforts in the recycling arena. We have been trying extra hard to always sing to the tune of “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” and have further reduced waste to landfills by two whole industrial bins per week.

That’s a whopping 156 cubic metres a year, NOT going into landfills.

With a saving in waste collection dollars of over $3000, this is great for the Environment AND Alowishus, but not so great for the Waste Collection Company.

How we did this

We have changed many things within our business and in the ways, we work with our local suppliers. Furthermore, we partnered with some great other local businesses to further reduce our waste.

war on waster

  • We’ve partnered with Splitters Farm to collect our food waste.  They have provided us with branded, coloured wheelie bins and collect the scraps daily. Be sure to follow them on insta @splittersfarm
  • The team at the Endeavour Foundation are collecting our used coffee grounds for their worm farm and apparently, the worms are LOVING the caffeine
  • JJ Richards recycling collects our cardboard for processing twice a week – and BOY! Do we get a lot of cardboard, literally, truckloads of it
  • Our daughter Ally collects all the 10c eligible containers that are left at Alowishus (a budding entrepreneur).  She did cash flow projections and with compounding interest factored in, she has calculated she can save $20K by the time she’s 18.  I’ll keep you posted on how that goes!
  • We recycle our Honey Pales back to our local supplier, Hummock Honey and he passes them back onto groups for non-food use
  • All food pales that come in are given away to people who reuse them for various things, from crafts to water bowls for their animals.
  • Our egg trays (and there are loads of them) are taken for all sorts of reasons, from people who have chickens, to kindy classes and musicians attempting to soundproof their studios.
  • Our 20-litre drums are also given away for repurposing as they are emptied.
  • All eligible plastics are placed into a JJ Richards Co-Mingle recycling bin and are processed back through the Bundaberg Regional Council Waste Management Facility. Milk bottles, cans and dressing bottles are among the bin load of plastics recycled on a weekly basis.
  • Doing all of this has reduced the number of garbage bags we use from around 500 a month, down to 300!  And we are still working on reducing further.

REDUCE REUSE RECYCLE

Unfortunately the $3000 a year we have saved on waste management will be taken from us by the State Government come the first of July 2019.  The Labor Government are introducing a controversial Waste Management ‘levy’ of $75 per tonne and this is set to increase annually by $5.  This ‘levy’, which in reality is a TAX, is predicted to generate $1.3 billion in revenue, of which a mere $150 million will go into developing Qld’s recycling industries or into helping our environment.

Read State MP David Batt’s address to parliament here

Where is the other $1,150,000,000 ($1.15B) going?  That is the same question I’m asking?

Believe me, I’m all for:

  • helping the environment
  • recycling
  • and improving our waste management

I just don’t think that this so called ‘waste levy’ will be effective in helping the environment, not when less than 10% of it is actually going to the environment.

That’s just my opinion ………

What are your thoughts on the matter?

 

 

 

2018 Cafe of the Year Winners below – To vote for Alowishus Delicious in 2019 click here

War On Waste – 10 Things Alowishus Delicious Is Doing For The Environment

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The War on Waste – What is Alowishus doing ?

war on waste

Well, the short answer is a lot !!!  Could we do more?  We most certainly can.  We can all do more.  Having said that, we have a very busy cafe that needs to run smoothly, quickly and efficiently.  People want convenience, they want their food and drink fast and often they want it 10 minutes ago.

It’s a tough gig, balancing your customers wants and needs.  We have 400 plus customers a day (how blessed are we), and believe me, each one wants something different.  Each one has different wants and passions.  Some people are passionate about:

  • reducing plastic usage
  • some are passionate about animals
  • some are passionate about reducing sugar
  • the list goes on and on and on and on

Trying our best.

I’m in the middle trying to balance all of this, and where I can, trying to please the majority of people.  We love seeing people happy and having fun at Alowishus, it’s what we are all about.  I receive no less then 20 emails, face book reviews, texts messages, face book messages, google reviews, trip advisor reviews every week (and the list goes on).  These messages are filled with people offering feedback or complaints about anything and everything really.  Items covering, but not limited to the following:

  • my toast isn’t cooked how I like it
  • you use too much plastic
  • the coffee is too hot, the coffee is too cold
  • you use too much sugar in your cakes
  • my coffee was too strong, my coffee was too weak
  • the cafe was too hot, the cafe was too cold
  • the cafe is too small ???
  • my eggs were too hard, my eggs were too soft
  • stop sending me free stuff (I’m serious)
  • and the list goes on  :-)

war on waste

Many of these complaints/suggestions are subjective.

When I go out to eat (yes I do get to leave Alowishus sometimes :-) And my toast isn’t cooked enough, I just ask them to cook it longer.  If my coffee is too cold, I’d ask them to make it again.  The next time I visit there I’d be sure to ask the person taking my order to make my coffee really hot.  I love to give people the benefit of the doubt, it makes for a more enjoyable experience.  I like to talk to people, I like to give them feedback, because then and only then, can they do something about it.

We don’t always get things right at Alowishus.  We are human, however we own it when we get it wrong, and most importantly we LOVE to fix it for you.  Just ask us!  Tell us about it so we can all have a happy day.  Please don’t leave unhappy and write some terrible review about us, give us the opportunity to fix it for you then and there.

If you’re not happy with the outcome, sure write us up a bad review, it would be warranted.

Anyhow back to what what we are doing in the WAR ON WASTE (I’m like a puppy, very easily distracted.)

10 Things we are doing for the War on Waste.

  1. 98% of our menu and product are available for dine-in with re-useable crockery, cutlery and glass wear – YOUR CHOICE
  2. We sell Branded Glass Keep Cups, and as an incentive to switch, we fill it with coffee for free when you first purchase it
  3. You are welcome to bring your own keep cup, we offer 20c off as an incentive for people to switch from paper – YOUR CHOICE
  4. We didn’t switch to a reusable plastic bag, we introduced a high quality paper bag (why change from one plastic bag to another plastic bag – THAT’S A STUPID IDEA !)
  5. Alowishus pays extra for our paper cups to have a PLA lining which is biodegradable and compostable in a commercial unit (it takes around 6 months to breakdown)
  6. We pay extra for PLA straws and Cutlery.  Our PLA cutlery & straws are made from Ingeo PLA (poly-lactic-acid), a bioplastic produced from corn, natural annually renewable resource. The production of PLA produces fewer greenhouse gas emissions when compared to conventional plastic production.  Products made from PLA bioplastics are compostable in industrial composting facility.
  7. The takeaway containers we use for our hot meals are a Green Mark Product made from sugarcane which is fully decomposing and recyclable *read more below
  8. Our cake containers and salad bowls are a Castaway Product called Eco Smart, therefore they have an additive to help them break down. Click hereto find out more
  9. We have paper bags for cakes and slices and hot box items.
  10. Shortly we are switching from a disposable plastic sauce dish for dine in to a reusable soy dish

We are always working behind the scenes to improve things for our customers, our team and the environment because we want to be better tomorrow then we were yesterday.

Warmest regards

Tracey

ps, this post is a bit of a rant, but sometimes it all gets a bit much, please forgive me, I really do love what I do, I love my team, and I love my customers xxoo

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