Calgary’s locally owned Good Earth Cafés provides a relaxing environment with an environmentally friendly message

Calgary coffee lovers don’t have to search far to get great coffee. There is quite a variety of coffee shops in Calgary, with the likes of Starbucks, The Second Cup, and Tim Horton's seemingly on every other block. However, for this article, I decided to focus on one particular, special café that is local to Calgary, is well-versed in the community and practices good environmental sustainability.
The Good Earth Café has a number of good reasons to make it your frequent coffee haunt. First and foremost, it is locally owned and was started in Calgary. Nan Eskenazi and Michael Going opened the first Good Earth Café in 1991. Nan, from the west coast, was already familiarized in coffee culture, and Michael, from a ranch in Southern Alberta, knew much about great Alberta-style food. Together they created a café with unique gourmet food and wonderful Italian bistro-style coffee.
“Michael and I began with a passion for coffee, specifically the Italian-style of espresso. We also saw that an authentic coffeehouse can help create community for people. Those were our core motivations in opening our first Good Earth in 1991,” says Eskenazi.
There are a lot of unique environmentally sustainable practices that the Good Earth Café instills in its company and employees. For instance, all their paper cups are commercially compostable. This provides a good alternative to many other coffee-houses' cups which have a petroleum-based plastic liner, and are therefore not degradable. However, Eskenazi noted that the cups do not fully biodegrade in your backyard compost. Instead, it must all be sent to a commercial composting facility. Calgary doesn’t have one yet, but is planning on testing with residential commercial compostable green bins soon. The Good Earth still makes an effort though, as Eskenazi outlines.
“Our paper coffee cups and our paper hot food containers are now fully compostable in commercial composting facilities. They are made entirely from renewable and biodegradable resources. They do not, however, compost in a backyard composter. Many paper coffee cups on the market presently have a plastic film on the inside of the cup which is not compostable, and is a petroleum-based product (non-renewable). We hope to introduce compostable cold drink cups/lids, as well, in the next year.”
You can also help the Good Earth in their efforts by purchasing one of their re-usable travel mugs and using their fancy, stainless-steel water bottles. If you bring in your travel mug, you can fill up on a large-sized coffee for the price of a small, another incentive.
The Good Earth takes further steps to protect the environment by using alternative energy sources.
“Another key initiative for us is our support of green energy. All Good Earth Cafes are 100% wind powered with Bullfrog Power. We are purchasing over 1,435 MwH of clean, renewable power for our cafés annually from Bullfrog Power™, a leading Canadian provider of 100 per cent green electricity. In doing so, Good Earth is reducing its environmental footprint by over 1,066 tonnes of CO2 per year. Our cumulative carbon emissions reduction is a whopping 3,520.27 tonnes, since 2007!” she said.
In addition to this, they make sure they purchase their coffee from responsible and reputable sources.
“At the core of our coffee program is a commitment to environmental-based decision-making. Several years ago, we moved from buying strictly organic coffee to selecting our coffee using a more well-rounded set of criteria. Now most of our coffee is certified by the Rainforest Alliance, and much of it is purchased through direct trade relationships. This means our coffee program is meeting higher standards that are verified by a respected agency.”
The Good Earth uses shade grown coffee. This means that the coffee is grown under tree canopies in the rainforest. Shade grown coffee is more environmentally proactive because it is grown in a diverse environment and provides great habitat opportunities, for migrating songbirds for example. Less irrigation and fertilizers are needed to grow coffee this way. Coffee farmed in this manner provides a better taste and flavour compared to coffee grown on plantations in the sun that is fast growing, because of the longer maturation.
The company also takes steps to ensure good conditions on the coffee farms in countries like Nicaragua and Guatemala, by visiting them and having a direct trade relationship with the farmers.
“We purchase our coffee through direct trade relationships with farmers in these countries. That means that we know where the coffee is grown and what the conditions are like on the farm and for the community. We have looked at the farmers’ practices with respect to environmental sustainability. And we have also taken the time to learn how the farmer is contributing to the betterment of the community, through initiatives in education, health care, housing, etc. Essentially, direct trade is about building a relationship with a coffee farmer and the community, so we can better understand the impact of our coffee-buying decisions and therefor support farms where good things are happening. In the case of our relationships with framers in Guatemala and Nicaragua, these are further enhanced by the fact that we have personally visited the farms and met with the farmers,” she said.
You can also expect to relax and feel at ease when settling in with your cup of joe at one of the many Calgary Good Earth locations.
“Our intention is to have our coffeehouses feel comfortable and welcoming. We want people to enjoy being at Good Earth, to feel okay about hanging out, visiting, reading, writing, meeting… whatever it is a person wants to do while enjoying our great coffee and good food. So we try to express this idea in our café design, by selecting materials, colours and furnishings that support the coffeehouse idea,” Eskenazi says.
You might be interested to know that the Good Earth has commissioned wood from old Alberta Grain towers. When Eskenazi and Going heard these grain towers were set to be demolished, they decided to make use of the leftover wood because it had a story.
“This was years ago. When we heard that there were grain elevators set to be demolished, Michael Going (my husband and partner) and I thought it would be cool to use some of the wood inside our cafes. The old wood really had a story to tell, not only about the grain elevator, but also about the value of wood. The wood from the elevators had been sculpted by the grain pouring over it for so many years. Old wood has so much character it is really a gift we can use and reuse if we are thoughtful about it. Now we work with a Calgary-based artisan to create a few furnishings for each café that are made from reclaimed wood. This may have been timber from old buildings or large tree trunks, or even accumulated scrap lumber. Again, every piece tells a story,” said Eskenazi.
I noted to Eskenazi that there seems to be an awful lot of Good Earth Cafés in medical facilities in Calgary. She explained to me that it provides a nice environment and normalcy for patients who can’t leave the hospital, as well as a relaxing place for the hard-working health care staff to unwind, rather than the run-of-the-mill hospital cafeteria.
Whether you choose to frequent the Good Earth because of their wonderful coffee, great environmental practices, or the fact that they are locally owned, they aim to follow their coffee philosophy. Eskenazi explains it well.
“We continually search for coffee that offers exceptional taste, unique to a region, a farm, even a season. We seek out farms where environmental sustainability is practised. And we establish direct trade with farmers to help improve communities where coffee is grown. Our coffee is then carefully roasted… slowly in small batches to bring out the very best in every bean. So you will experience the unique taste and aroma that comes from each farmer’s commitment to their coffee. Why do we select and roast our coffee so carefully? It’s really simple. We have the power to make positive change in the world with choices large and small. We choose exceptional coffee, responsible farming, direct trade and careful roasting.”