Local Stores Celebrate Earth Day

Buds and blossoms aren’t the only things sprouting up around Harvard Square in April—many local businesses are also greening up to celebrate Earth Day today. Nearby restaurants, stores, and hotels are unveiling initiatives to help minimize their impact on the environment, such as recycling, composting, and reducing energy usage.

“Being green is a way of life in Harvard Square,” said Harvard Square Business Association Executive Director Denise Jillson.

Store and restaurant owners reported that green initiatives—such as energy and waste reduction—are on the rise, both for altruistic and profit-related motives. Since being environmentally-friendly decreases energy costs and also serves as a marketing tool, business owners said that the commitment to going green is actually helping them see more green in today’s harsh economic climate.

A WAY OF LIFE

Origins, a wellness-based beauty brand with a full line of plant-based skin-care, makeup, and body care products, kicked off its Return to Origins Recycling Program at the beginning of this month. The Brattle Street branch, along with other retail locations across the country, is collecting customers’ empty cosmetic containers to be recycled or burned to produce electricity.

Prior to this initiative, Origins had recycled their own packaging but had never accepted all empty cosmetic containers regardless of brand.

“There’s no other cosmetic company around doing something like this,” said store manager Mark Leonard.

Throughout the month of April, the company—in partnership with environmental awareness organization Global ReLeaf—will also plant a tree for every jar of A Perfect World Antioxidant moisturizer that Origins sells.

Although these programs were implemented in honor of Earth Month, Leonard said that Origins’ green initiatives are part of a broader commitment to the environment. According to the company’s Web site, all Origins products are manufactured using renewable resources, wind energy, and earth-friendly practices, using recycled materials wherever possible.

Though eco-friendly business practices such as those employed by Origins are becoming increasingly popular, especially during Earth Month, many store and restaurant owners said that their joints have functioned under those principles for a long time, and that their environmental interests were not temporary initiatives, but ongoing ones.

SERVING UP “GREENS”

Harvard Square restaurants, for example, are implementing environmentally-friendly initiatives and minimizing their carbon footprint by recycling, composting, and reducing energy usage.

Though restaurants naturally consume a large quantity of water and energy and produce both organic and inorganic waste, several local food services establishments said that they are making green changes.

On Winthrop Street, UpStairs on the Square co-owner Mary-Catherine Deibel said that her restaurant is always on the lookout for ways to implement environmental practices. The establishment—known for its eye-popping girly décor, well-reviewed dishes and high menu prices—is a member of the Green Restaurant Association, a national non-profit organization that promotes sustainability in the industry.

Besides ongoing efforts to use local produce and reduce energy usage, UpStairs began offering in-house filtered water last month as an alternative to the imported water it usually serves. Bottled water is still offered on the menu, but Deibel said the response to the filtered water alternative has been “very positive.”

Deibel said that the restaurant’s eco-consciousness stems mostly out of a genuine concern for the environment, but that the establishment’s green status also motivates the staff and the boosts business. “People like to eat in places that are responsible,” she said.

A few months ago, the restaurant also made an adjustment to how private events and functions are hosted. Instead of giving a disposable menu to each customer, the restaurant now only prints a menu for every two diners, slashing its paper usage in half.

Many of its environmental initiatives—such as purchasing new energy-efficient equipment or compact fluorescent light bulbs—may not be profitable at first, but Deibel said that those measures save money in the long run due to decreased energy usage over time.

Although Veggie Planet—a casual vegetarian restaurant a few blocks away on Palmer Street—offers a very different dining experience, its commitment to the environment is similar.

The restaurant has no specific initiatives for Earth Month, but co-owner Adam Penn said that Veggie Planet will be working with Cambridge Local First—a network of locally-owned businesses—in the next month to conduct an environmental audit to assess its practices. Penn said that the restaurant currently composts and recycles, and its vegetarian menu is good for the environment, since less water, land, and energy are used than for meat production.

Penn said since customers are becoming increasingly eco-conscious, businesses are following suit.

“There are some business owners who really do care about the environment, but there are plenty of the others who see it as an opportunity to market themselves,” said Penn, adding that he did not disapprove of businesses selling themselves as green.

“It’s great that doing what’s good for the environment is good for business as well,” he said.

For a store with walls covered in grass, it’s not a surprise that JP Licks is also attempting to be eco-conscious, recycling its ice cream containers and making a push for travel mugs rather than disposable paper cups. Since last fall, customers who buy a coffee refill with the travel mug—which costs $2.99 from the store—is charged the price of a small coffee despite the mug’s medium size.

Jason D. Provost, the store’s general manager, said that the travel mug initiative has not only reduced paper waste, but has also boosted business. Despite charging less for refills, coffee sales have risen, compensating for the decreased price. Provost also said that the store has seen “absolutely no drop in profit.”

“Going green has become so popular, and showing customers that we do make an effort is good for us,” said Provost.

But customer Andreea D. Gorbatai, a third year GSAS student, said that she doubted the initiative’s environmental efficacy, since many people forget to carry the mugs.

“It shows that they care about the environment,” said Gorbatai. “But I don’t know if it will have an impact.”

GREEN SLEEPS

In a city full of camera-ready landmarks, eco-conscious travelers can also now find greener places to lodge.

Accommodations around the Square are launching initiatives in time for Earth Month, as well as implementing changes as an ongoing effort to be more environmentally friendly.

Rachael Solem, the owner of the Irving House and Harding House, two nearby bed and breakfasts with long-standing green initiatives, said that there was a close relationship between her own philosophy regarding the environment and the way she conducts her businesses.

“Personally, I am willing to make some sacrifices and invest some money in order to have a light environmental footprint,” Solem said, adding that she drives a hybrid car, uses reusable shopping bags, and tries to take public transportation whenever possible.

Solem said that although a hotel’s operation entails a fairly high use of resources—since clean rooms must be maintained every day—her establishments make efforts to be Earth-friendly by composting leftover food; offering disposable, compostable, and biodegradable plates and cups; and using paper products made from 100 percent recycled content.

Rather than giving guests individual bottles of bath amenities like many other hotels, Solem’s bed and breakfasts buy shampoo, lotion, and soap in bulk and offer them in refillable dispensers.

Solem also said that being environmentally friendly supersedes the desire to maximize profit, a viewpoint unique among the businesses owners contacted. The two establishments are looking into installing solar thermal panels to heat water, a technology that would require a 30-year payback period while needing replacement every 15 years. Though the solar thermal panels would not be cost-effective, Solem said that she will probably install them anyway in order to support the industry and promote their use.

“I’m willing to spend the money because it’s the right thing to do,” she said.

On the other end of the luxury spectrum, The Charles Hotel in Harvard Square is also taking steps to promote the environment by granting parking discounts to compact cars, installing a “juice bar” in the garage to charge hybrid and electric cars for free, and offering guests a complimentary bike program.

“Being environmentally friendly has been part of our philosophy since our inception,” said Alex Attia, the hotel’s general manager.

AN ONGOING PROCESS

A common theme expressed by owners of various businesses—regardless of the extent of efforts made by the store—was that their environmental initiatives were works-in-progress.

Mary Catherine Deibel of UpStairs on the Square said that “little by little,” the restaurant is working to reduce energy usage, and hopes to begin composting this year.

The Harvard Square Business Association’s Jillson, who helped organize the “Great Big Green Party” that will take place this Friday in Winthrop Park to raise awareness about environmental issues, called the green movement a “daily process.”

“It’s never enough, is it?” reflected Jillson. “But we’re really trying.”

—Staff writer Liyun Jin can be reached at ljin@fas.harvard.edu.