About The Green Grind

Sitting in a cafe one day with a likeminded friend we discussed how nice it would be to enjoy our drinks without a feeling of guilt.  Why did our favourite pastime have to have a negative impact on the environment?  Why couldn’t the coffee options we were given be all fairly traded, or organic, or better yet, both?!  Why did our coffee have to come served in unrecyclable paper cups? Why did the cookies and muffins we consumed in the cafe have to be full of pesticides?  We grew up with anti-littering campaigns, “reduce, reuse, recycle” slogans, and blue boxes, the messages had sunk in.  The idea behind The Green Grind is simple, to combine a love of cafe culture with a passion for the environment.

Environmentalism can co-exist with consumerism when a new generation of informed consumers  begin to make the right choices.  Instead of choosing a plastic bag, they are reusing cloth bags, instead of driving SUVs they are driving hybrids, instead of using pesticides they are choosing organic, and instead of choosing regular coffee, they will choose organic fairly traded coffee in biodegradable cups.


Mission statement:

The Green Grind’s mission is to provide first class coffee in a unique setting without contributing to environmental destruction.  At the Green Grind you can have your cake and eat it too.


What we will do to achieve our goal:

At the Green Grind we realize that everyone wants to help and not hurt the natural environment but that it can be difficult in our hectic city lives.  The Green Grind will aim to make it as easy as possible to enjoy your urban lifestyle without contributing to environmental destruction.  Some cafes sell fair trade and organic coffee and then claim to be “green”.  The Green Grind will use a holistic approach so that everything about the store and in the store has been given careful consideration as to its environmental impact and the least harmful  will always bechosen. 

The following are a glimpse of just what will make The Green Grind unique.

• LEED certification  is being targeted to assure everyone that we are not another ‘green washed’ company.  When we say we’re green, we mean it, and we will have the certification to prove it.  LEED is a strict environmental certification process that ensures everything to do with the construction of the cafe is environmentally responsible.  For more on certification see our page on LEED or ask any of our staff in the store.
  
  

• 1% For The Planet will be joined so that each and every sale done in the cafe is actually a donation.  1% of ALL sales at The Green Grind will go to this environmental organization. 

• Bullfrog Power  will be joined so that we can run the coffee shop on clean, renewable power.  We will also be able to say that we’re the first (and only) coffee shop in Toronto that is Bullfrogpowered.  
  
  

• Fair trade and organic coffee, tea and food will be the only things being served in the cafe so you can be sure that your food or beverage is free of all pesticides, herbicides, fungicides and that the people who made the coffee were paid a fair wage for their product.  That means their lives are improved every time you purchase fair trade coffee.

• Locally roasted coffee means that you’ll always receive the freshest coffee possible.  Although we can’t do anything about importing coffee from far away locales, we can control where our coffee is roasted.  Our working with local roasters cuts down on transportation and gives you super fresh coffee.
  
  

• Biodegradable cups and lids will be used to cut down on waste generated.  Once you’re finished with it, you can toss it in your green bin.

• 15 cents will be taken off your purchase price if you bring in your own reusable travel mug.
  
  

• Real china While in the coffee shop our drinks will be served in real china instead of disposable cups. This cuts down on waste.

• Natural cleaning products All cleaning in the coffee shop will be done with natural, green cleaners instead of using harsh chemicals.
  
  
  

All this adds up to you being able to lead your busy life while still enjoying an awesome latte, cappuccino, or cookie with zero guilt.