I'm pretty convinced that the packaging industry doesn't really WANT us to all start packaging green. If they did, they'd make it obtainable, affordable and logical to achieve.
Problem number 1: Can't get small quantities. If I want to start using "green" coffee cups, I have to order 10,000 of them in order to not pay astronomical shipping costs or the highest possible price. Got any idea how much space 10,000 12oz coffee cups takes up? Well, picture a single car garage. Then picture it pretty much full. (meanwhile, picture the bank account pretty much empty, because I just spent $1200 on coffee cups).
Problem number 2: Our suppliers that we currently buy packaging from have no incentive to source out green packaging because the costs to them are high, which they then HAVE to pass on to us, which makes it even MORE unafforadable - EVEN THO we've told them we'll pay it... just don't make us buy 10,000 at a time!
Problem number 3: Much of the biodegradable packaging out there is made from corn. Corn is replacing wheat in many crops in order to make biofuel. Biofuel is the main culprit behind the cost of flour going through the roof... so... buying CORN-based products is essentially cutting off my nose to spite my face.
Problem number 4: Petroleum-based products are skyrocketing in price now because of the "oil shortage"... so now, we're seeing the prices of the packaging that we've already been buying start to climb toward the cost of biodegradable packaging, and it's still BAD for the environment.
SO... do we just keep buying the same old stuff until it finally is more expensive than the biodegradable stuff? Do we take a stand and say NO to packaging altogether until we can find what we want? We KNOW it's out there - we can see it on the internet! It's HOW to get it that's the problem.
It's a dilemma.
People don't quite seem ready to take their food away in their hands without some sort of paper or plastic product protecting them from it...
So if we say "bring your own packaging or you're gonna get food on your hands," do you think we'll lose customers? Of course we will. Will we lose them for long? This i don't know.
I'm hardly an eco-freak... I just feel like we HAVE to do our part as a business. It's up to business and industry to lead the way... because as long as they are getting the tax breaks, and making the most mess, the rest of the population will be calling "hypocrite" and that simply isn't right.
Why should we - i mean the collective we, as in the private citizens of the world, have to shoulder the entire burden of saving the planet??
Why aren't captains of industry, big players in corporate kingdoms, and international business leaders standing up and leading the charge? They are the ones who have the most to GAIN by taking the forward steps... THEY are the ones that we will support with our consumerism if they lead by example. THEY are the ones who will get lauded for being "forward thinking" and "visionary"...
But yet here we are - jack and jill average, scared to death that our grandchildren and great grandchildren may not get to see the sun, or that polar bears may extinct, or that summer and winter will change times of year - scrounging our cloth bags out of the trunk, or hiking to the store with our backpacks, or lugging around stainless steel, BPA-free, non-petroleum-based cups, plates, spoons and bags to carry our organic, fair-trade, small-estate, locally grown or built "whatchamahoosits" in back to our compact-flourescent-lit, programmable-thermostat-heated, energy-star-compliant homes that cost us a small fortune to convert - in an effort to save the planet...
I don't get it.
I do what I can, what I choose to afford, what i can rationalize in my own life... and I admit, sometimes I take the easier/cheaper way out.
And I feel guilty about it.
Why don't the big guys feel guilty?????
THAT is what I don't get, I think...
I can barely sleep at night knowing that I've paid $130 for 50 big cake boxes that are going to carry a cake from my store to your house, and then promptly end up in your recycling bin or fireplace... and those guys get to make zillions polluting the planet, and destroying the forests, and killing the oceans, and raping the tarsands...
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
bye bye summer
Oh my... I DO apologize - it's been SO long since my last confession...
Seriously. I do NOT know how those professional bloggers do it... write every day, maybe even multiple times... jeez, you'd think they got paid to write or something!
Anyway... what can we tell you about the last few months?
So much has happened, and yet it was not a summer of any great note as far as numbers were concerned - down about 20% over last year, in fact. But I understand that's not uncommon... seems it's kind of just "the way it was" this year.
Our foray into multiple locations has come to an end. Simply was not what we expected being down there at the Gibsons Harbour. It was a ton of work, and the cost of doing business there was not being met by the revenues at any point, which was really disappointing. We'd had such high hopes, but I think what really got us more than the lack of tourists, or the rise of the "staycation" was simply that we were stretched beyond our limit. We didn't have enough staff, we didn't have enough resources, and we simply didn't have what it required to make it successful.
Live & learn.
On to other things! Like our gorgeous, wonderful, miraculous expansion here at Gibsons Way!!
If you haven't been in to see it yet, we really hope you DO come soon!
We had a fantastic team of volunteers - friends, family & customers who came out and swung hammers and swathed paint, and swept and washed, and drywalled, and decorated, and played with electricity... it was so incredibly cool and generous and amazing, and we are very very grateful and appreciative of every single second you spent helping us achieve this step in the journey.
In a nutshell, we've nearly doubled the size of the seating area, built a bar, rearranged the main service area, added a men's restroom (complete with the requisite fixtures), upgraded the overall look & feel of the entire place, redirected the chi, and boosted the energy level.
Hmmm... built a bar, you say?? YES!
So, one thing leads to another... no saying yet WHEN that will come, but expect sometime in the not ridiculously distant future to be able to get a glass of great draft or a hand selected red with you meals... aw heck, maybe even a perfect martini!
And THAT would also suggest that perhaps meals past 6pm might be on the horizon... WATCH FOR IT. We'll be doing test runs by invitation, so join the mailing list and we'll tell you how you can get invited!
The whole coffeehouse idea is going really really well... summer was a bit quiet, but we're looking forward to re-ramping things up this fall. We had standing room only crowds in the spring... now everyone can have a seat! and it'll be so comfortable you may never want to leave!
Again, join the mailing list so you can stay up to date with who's playing when... we've got shows on Sept 13, Sept 27 and Oct 11 fully booked... plus Nov 8 and Dec 13 and maybe more in between. Check the website for details (right hand side of the homepage).
I think that's all I can tell you right now. There are some other things brewing but until we have a good handle on them we'll keep them under wraps.
Watch for new menu items - likely sometime in October...
and special events...
see you soon!
kera
Seriously. I do NOT know how those professional bloggers do it... write every day, maybe even multiple times... jeez, you'd think they got paid to write or something!
Anyway... what can we tell you about the last few months?
So much has happened, and yet it was not a summer of any great note as far as numbers were concerned - down about 20% over last year, in fact. But I understand that's not uncommon... seems it's kind of just "the way it was" this year.
Our foray into multiple locations has come to an end. Simply was not what we expected being down there at the Gibsons Harbour. It was a ton of work, and the cost of doing business there was not being met by the revenues at any point, which was really disappointing. We'd had such high hopes, but I think what really got us more than the lack of tourists, or the rise of the "staycation" was simply that we were stretched beyond our limit. We didn't have enough staff, we didn't have enough resources, and we simply didn't have what it required to make it successful.
Live & learn.
On to other things! Like our gorgeous, wonderful, miraculous expansion here at Gibsons Way!!
If you haven't been in to see it yet, we really hope you DO come soon!
We had a fantastic team of volunteers - friends, family & customers who came out and swung hammers and swathed paint, and swept and washed, and drywalled, and decorated, and played with electricity... it was so incredibly cool and generous and amazing, and we are very very grateful and appreciative of every single second you spent helping us achieve this step in the journey.
In a nutshell, we've nearly doubled the size of the seating area, built a bar, rearranged the main service area, added a men's restroom (complete with the requisite fixtures), upgraded the overall look & feel of the entire place, redirected the chi, and boosted the energy level.
Hmmm... built a bar, you say?? YES!
So, one thing leads to another... no saying yet WHEN that will come, but expect sometime in the not ridiculously distant future to be able to get a glass of great draft or a hand selected red with you meals... aw heck, maybe even a perfect martini!
And THAT would also suggest that perhaps meals past 6pm might be on the horizon... WATCH FOR IT. We'll be doing test runs by invitation, so join the mailing list and we'll tell you how you can get invited!
The whole coffeehouse idea is going really really well... summer was a bit quiet, but we're looking forward to re-ramping things up this fall. We had standing room only crowds in the spring... now everyone can have a seat! and it'll be so comfortable you may never want to leave!
Again, join the mailing list so you can stay up to date with who's playing when... we've got shows on Sept 13, Sept 27 and Oct 11 fully booked... plus Nov 8 and Dec 13 and maybe more in between. Check the website for details (right hand side of the homepage).
I think that's all I can tell you right now. There are some other things brewing but until we have a good handle on them we'll keep them under wraps.
Watch for new menu items - likely sometime in October...
and special events...
see you soon!
kera
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