Vivo Cafe - Improving Their Sustainability and Bottom Line

I realised that, even though VIVO is a small business, it was leaving a very big carbon footprint. When we renovated the cafe I decided that was the time that we needed to focus as a business on both the sustainability ecologically as well as financially. I wanted to the business to operate in a more environmentally sustainable way.

From renovation stage we started implementing green practices and we have made a conscious effort to maintain the standard that we set right at the beginning. We have also undertaken GreenBizCheck assessment and certification.

The biggest change that we made was to introduce bio degradable takeaway coffee cups. VIVO sells around 15,000 takeaway coffees a week and I decided that this was a very serious and urgent matter to address. I felt that this would have the biggest impact as we are saving money and our customers have a visualisation of what we're trying to do. As part of the fit out we made several changes that we have maintained over time to reduce our costs and our impact on the environment. One significant aspect is a special, regular maintenance treatment of our refrigeration. The reason this has such an impact is because we have such a lot of refrigeration. The special treatment prevents a lot of dust sticking to the fans which means that the fridges are more reliable, they perform better, they have fewer breakdowns and use less power. This results in savings for the business and the environment. We also installed a C-Bus program for our lighting and the cafe chairs, around 200 of them, are all constructed of 100% recycled material. All of this helps us to contribute to the green star rating of the building.

Our biggest challenge has been in relation to the heating and cooling of the cafe and how that affects our customer experience. As part of the fit out we removed the pre-installed air conditioning unit because if its massive power consumption. It had a very negative impact on the business financially and environmentally, especially as it was not a new unit. No temperature control has been the hardest decision that we have had to live with.

I like to practice my belief that making a difference should be an integral part of my business. This is something personal that I do for me, not to promote the business or myself. I am conscious of the costs in my business so, unfortunately I have to make some decisions that aren't in the interests of sustainability. However, I do give consideration to environmental concerns where I can. I have good intentions and a commitment to being a better, responsible business owner and person.

By changing to the biodegradable cups my customers have become part of the process. They choose to buy their coffee from us and are therefore supporting our initiatives to be more responsible in the service of our customers. I'm satisfied that I've been able to follow through and make sustainability a viable part of the business. We save around 15% on the cost of the cups and a similar amount on the cost of electricity thanks to the changes we've made.

We're now trying to involve our staff more in the process of responsibility and make them think about ways they can act more responsibly both at home and at work. We have worked hard to put into place systems that help us reduce our carbon footprint and we continually reinforce these measures by making sure that we meet our own objectives with regard to minimising waste, such as in the area of printing and power.

Green practices are already important and will continue to increase in importance as we move towards a realisation that planning ahead and thinking about the future produces great benefits, both financially and ethically. How a business acts in terms of its attitude towards responsible practices will continue to impact on how successful they are.