The city of Phoenix is rolling out the second phase of Project Reduce, designed to cut food waste. The first 10-week phase diverted roughly 31,000 pounds of waste from landfills.
Even after composting for the majority of the nearly two decades she’s been doing business, Fair Trade Café owner Stephanie Vasquez says she was excited to be part of the program’s first phase.
“There's always space and room to grow and learn and improve business practices,” said Vasquez.
According to Vasquez, the biggest area of improvement has been clearer education for customers and making the more eco-friendly choice the easier one.
“We’ve got three different compartments in the front of house where something can go in the compost bin, the recycle bin or the landfill,” she said. “And we even use that terminology like the landfill. So hopefully the consumer looks at this like, ‘OK. Can this be recycled or composted before I send it to the landfill?’”
The café diverts 500 pounds of waste from the landfill every week, said Vasquez.
Getting involved with Project REDUCE just made sense, she said, and it reaffirmed just how much the surrounding community values sustainable practices.
“Your recyclable cup, your sticker’s recyclable, your straw is compostable – that definitely cost the business a little bit more,” said Vasquez. “Pennies more, it costs pennies more. However, the impact that we are creating and that level of energy is elevated. So I feel like it's reciprocated over time.”
Vasquez encouraged other local restaurant owners to take advantage of the next round of micro-grants.
“When you do a cost analysis between Fair Trade Café and a large chain, we're always going to be cheaper and that's on purpose,” she said. “I want to get rid of every single excuse for you not to support local and be a conscientious consumer. You're going to come in, you're going have a great experience, and an incredible cup of coffee that just happens to be completely sustainable.”
At the end of the day, said Vasquez, it’s about making more intentional decisions on both the consumer and business side, as well as the city’s ability to materially and meaningfully support efforts to do so.
