Live Sustainably

Along the parking lot side of the building, our sustainability desires have stretched across a window that has provided its own twelve-year movement toward sustainability.

When I first approached the Nicollet Square building back in the fall of 2011, walking over from our Grand Avenue shop, it was the empty lot behind the building that sparked my creative hopes. My Grand Avenue site was a full concrete sidewalk and our only grassy area was a thin strip on the northside next to a three-story apartment building.   In an urban environment, finding a flat, full-sun lot is a rarity, and quickly a community garden site grew in my mind.  I started imagining growing vegetables for the shop, developing an orchard for fruits to work into the bakery, and sharing garden plots with neighbors to build community as we grew our own food together. 

Then, once inside the blank space that had been set aside for retail construction, it was clear that all of the early challenges at Grand Avenue with energy use, water conservation, lighting, ventilation were being addressed in a way that could support my hopes for running a sustainably run business.   While I had made some "retrofits" in the original space, starting with energy saving designs at the beginning of construction was ideal.  And I knew I had the support from the landlord and contractor (Flannery Construction) to do this better.   And if I could figure out the physical space, how many more sustainable practices could settle into this sustainably-run building?

I quickly determined that seeking a LEED Certification (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) might be more expensive and not particularly necessary for us, but that we could still build out to meet those standards and benefit in the energy savings through that design work.  This included choice of materials and the use of a ventilation system that could move cooler and warmer air (kitchen spaces and customer spaces being very different in amount of heating and cooling they would need and create) into the area most needed at the time.  Having been a WindSource investor for our energy use since the start in 2006 and having already learned to work with low-flow water filters at our original site, we were well on our way to creating an energy efficient space to work out of.  And indeed, over the years, keeping energy costs under control has meant I could afford to spend more on ingredient sourcing and staffing.

But sustainability is more than LED lighting, low-flow aerators, and energy-star rated equipment.   For a restaurant, sourcing ingredients is also a high-energy intensive effort.  Keeping a local footprint is one of my ways to reduce this energy impact.  Transporting products over a long distance is a huge challenge for our food system.  As a society, we have placed high demands on freshness, variety, quality, and timeliness. Although I never intended to be strictly - only local/only seasonal - I wanted to push local sourcing in a way that would challenge me.  This has included seeking primary sources within 200 miles of the shop (providing an ability to spend a day there on a visit) and to build a menu that can mostly function year-round on local options and seasonal offerings.  As a part of this effort, it was important for me to be transparent about what this looks like in my ordering, so I've been keeping data on where things come from.  Over the years, we've maintained a 75-80% range of ingredients sourced this way.  As a "work in progress" this also helps me encourage efforts to build urban agricultural efforts, including the latest work to create indoor farming options in the Phillips Neighborhood.

Of course, growing here on site would be the shortest distance to aim for.  And while we never actually got that community garden site on the back lot, (it is a net-zero energy use apartment building with waste-water reuse on site) we have been able to grow produce on our boulevard and have harvested from the Serviceberry Trees that surround the building.  We have also benefited from local Community Supported Agriculture farms and the Kingfield Farmers Market to get us through much of May to October.  It has been a delight to watch the growth of urban agricultural practices over these dozen years, including recent efforts to make better use of city parkland for growing food.

Sustainability practices move into how we manage our waste as well.  With no desire to add to landfills or feed the city's garbage burner, I've made choices that intend to create a restaurant that is Zero Waste.  As ambitious as that seems, we're actually within the 5% range of getting there, through efforts to recycle and compost our organic materials.  Those choices were very expensive and difficult during our early years, and required a commitment to the future that mostly felt like being a private equity investor.  Our willingness to be a model, to educate, to organize, and to celebrate with other early adopter restaurants, has led to large scale changes in how our city functions.   With these policy changes in place, it is getting easier and a bit more affordable to do the right thing, and at least a feeling that my investments are reaping some rewards.   And, if I can consider "legacy" as a part of what Butter Bakery Cafe has been a part of, I'm happy to think of the green organic carts around the city as part of what we've supported.

In the "real world" of natural systems sustainability is the thread through everything.  An eco-system functions when it is self-sustaining.  Trying to weave this thread into every aspect of business doesn't always feel natural. And for most businesses, sustainability gets a couple of "green goals" to market, but isn't the actual life-blood that flows through an organization.  While I don't ever consider what we're doing as a perfect model, I get reminded often by the remark "it's good to see you're still open," that somehow, the model has been able to self-sustain itself through 18 very challenging years.  These choices have included how to finance and fund the cafe, how to staff and compensate our staff, how to offer services and products, how to support the growth of our community and neighbors, and even how to create routines and activities that move us through each day, each week, each month, each season, each year.

The restaurant industry doesn't have a particularly good image as a workplace, so creating a sustainable workplace has been a long-term goal for me, that has leaned on advocating for systems changes that provide better workplace supports for service sector industries.  So, over the years I've spoken out and organized with others for earned sick and safe time, raises to the minimum wage, paid leave, wage transparency, and predictable scheduling. I need a level playing field to both attract and retain staff.   As a small, neighborhood cafe, we certainly don't generate the revenue of the big-players in the industry and so we found we couldn't compete in the wage + tip lure of high-end dining places.  Yes, staff can walk away with a couple hundred dollars of tips at the end of the evening. And yes, erratic hours, getting sent home early on slow nights, or knowing the best work shifts were "reserved" for a few select staff, has a different level of sustainability at work.  How long can you stick it out in this setting?  We went another direction, creating an equitable wage and a set schedule that would allow staff to create their own budget for time and compensation that could meet their needs, allow them to continue to work here until life-conditions might send them off to something next. We've benefited from having most staff stay several years, building a workplace culture that has become self-sustaining.

And I do have to ask the question, "Is my own work day sustainable?" During the first couple years of purchasing the cafe, I was working 16 to 18-hour days and feeling grateful to have had 10 or 12 days "off" during the whole year. It was just how it had to be in a learning/survival mode. But, after all these years, I wonder if it is sustainable for me to work six days a week putting 70 hours weekly at the cafe?  Is it still sustainable for me to wear all the hats of a small businessperson while filling a prep cook shifts and my Saturday cook shift each week?  Can I find the time I need to replenish my own soil and replant for new growth?  As I near the last couple years of what has been a long and delightful journey in running a small business, I hope to continue to build a workplace that does sustain myself and my staff to be a place of creativity and growth.

What sustains Butter Bakery Cafe these days?  It's still the same as day one, a commitment to good food, good practices, a warm, welcoming space for our neighborhood to gather and be connected.  It is still the delight of welcoming customers both long-timers and those new to the cafe.  It is what keeps me walking this path and what brings me joy.   May we continue to find ways to sustain each other along this green path and celebrate this vibrant life we can share.