Beans4Bags Supports Durham Sustain Ability

My how attitudes change in a few short years!

Since P’lovers opened in 2002, we have been asking each of our customers the same question — “Do you need a bag?” While the majority of our eco-friendly patrons understood the question and responded accordingly, there were many who answered with something just short of indignation. “Well, of course I need a bag” was either the spoken or inferred message.

Fast forward to 2008. Our question remains the same, however, the typical response is so different. The occasional indignant response now infers exactly the opposite — “Of course I don’t need a bag.”

At P’lovers, we are delighted that this public perception has shifted so dramatically. We are happy to forgo the “corporate branding” benefit that the shopping bag offers retailers if we can save that same bag from the landfill. We are an environmental store, after all.

Earlier this year, we decided to take our bag-less message one step further and launched the Beans4Bags program. Originally conceived at P’lovers in Halifax, the concept is very simple. For every bag we do NOT give away, we drop a bean in a jar on our counter. Each bean represents 5 cents we donate to an environmental organization or local charity.

For the July to October 2008 time frame, we chose Durham Sustain Ability (DSA) as our first Beans4Bags program recipient. DSA is a not-for-profit organization located in Brougham (south of Scugog Township) that actively promotes sustainability programs within the community. I first learned about DSA a number of years ago from one of our regular customers. They are a perfect fit for Beans4Bags.

Our customers, as I expected, have reacted quite enthusiastically to this program. We’ve learned and shared a little more about DSA and their mandate with our customers. Beans4Bags has stimulated many lively discussions about the importance of a more sustainable lifestyle. Quite often, customers are moved to toss change into the jar to accompany their beans.

Just as importantly, we are able to see real, quantifiable results of our collective positive actions. For the first 4 months of Beans4Bags, we diverted just over 1,000 bags from our garbage stream! Now THAT is something to celebrate!

-Steve

Editor’s Note: At P’lovers we love to share and we would love to share this idea especially! Our customers should encourage their other favourite retailers, small or large, to adopt this program. They can do it our way or do it their own way. Use our name or pick their own. Select their own recipient. We don’t even care if we get any credit for the idea — just lose the bags!!

A Weekend with Friends!

I had the great pleasure to celebrate a milestone birthday with a very good friend this past weekend. A surprise sleepover for a select few of her dearest friends. The surprise went off without a hitch and the rest of the evening unfolded with good food and very tasty margarita’s. It was the next morning when it came time to clean up that I had the idea for this blog.

As I reached across the other ladies all busily picking up this and that I asked the obvious question, (obvious to me) where should I put the recycle stuff? where is your compost? The laughter rose above the conversational tone in the kitchen as my dear, now older friend began to explain to the others “Jude is my hippie friend who doesn’t shop at Walmart and composts and recycles everything she can get her hands on, takes in strays off the street and uses only biodegradable products.”

My response was a referral to my carbon footprint which just resulted in more laughter as my friend went on to explain that I dry out and reuse my milk bags for heaven’s sakes!!

I must say over the years I have tried to lead by example. I am not the type to climb atop a soap box, when in the company of friends. I simply do what I do, if the topic comes up I don’t shy away from my daily practices but I also don’t preach. I have gained the reputation of a environmental Nazi in my family, my husband affectionately refers to me as such, but outside the home I take my hits but I always stand my ground.

I find it amazing that there are so many people out there who really don’t give it a second thought and these are good people, nice people. This friend I was celebrating with has been in my life since we were in 4th grade and we will continue to share special events for many years to come and we won’t love each other any less, we are just different. And as we all know variety is the spice of life, throw in a tangy margarita and life does not get any better.

I will continue to lead by example and when given the opportunity to spread the message I will continue to do so.

-Jude

Buy Quality, Buy Canadian!

When I opened my local Port Perry Star newspaper this morning, I was delighted to read a letter to the editor from Colin Scriver from Newcastle.

The subject matter of Colin’s letter has been rattling around in my head for a while. It allows me to reflect on three inter-related themes that I think are incredibly important for all Canadian consumers — buying quality, shopping Canadian, and “walking the talk”.

Read on…

“I am a manufacturer and I too get frustrated with all the foreign imports, but I drive a Toyota. The reason you ask? Quality.

I have owned a lot of GM products (three trucks, five cars) and two Chrysler products from different dealers, and it is the same old story.

Extremely poor quality and no one to back it up. I got sick of it. I have never been mistreated and dismissed so much in my life than at a GM dealer.

I don’t get that at Toyota. Oh, and my 2008 Honda Civic has more Canadian content than most GM vehicles, alongside my made in Canada Toyota Matrix.

Both vehicles are made in Canada and both are serviced in Canada and made by taxpaying Ontarians.

But here is to all the GM employees who insist our economy is crashing strictly due to the fact that I bought a Toyota — wake up.

The majority of your daily purchases are probably products made in China. So, if you can come up with a way of eliminating that, your cars will definitely improve.”

As owner of P’lovers in Port Perry and principle product buyer, it is incredibly important to me to carry high quality products for our customers. As a consumer myself, I recognize that buying quality may come with a higher initial price tag, but it will inevitably be cheaper in the long run. It just makes sense that if I am replacing a product less often, fewer overall resources will be used in the process, resulting in a smaller ecological footprint. This truly is a winning scenario for everyone.

Buying Canadian is another important P’lovers purchasing principle and a goal that I share as a consumer. Minimizing the distance a product travels to get to my store (or my home) makes an obvious positive impact on our environment.

There is, however, an important economic benefit as well.

According to research conducted by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, it is small and medium sized business that drives the Canadian economy — not the big chains or the multinationals.

Three to four times more of the money you spend is re-invested back into your community when you choose to shop at local independent stores versus the (cheaper, lower quality) big box alternative.  As Colin suggests in his letter, supporting the big box stores only exacerbates the problem.

When you choose to shop at P’lovers, you do so knowing we, in turn, have made a conscious commitment to support, whenever possible, small Canadian craftspeople and micro-businesses — Pheylonian, Nature’s Bodyworks, Ella’s Botanicals, Ringley, Zee Spot, Frank Glew, Arbour, A Slice of the North, Dog Bite Steel, Dream Designs, Snug Sleep, Green Beaver, to name just a few.

These products may come with a higher price tag, but will also be better quality than anything else you will find in the market. We choose this purchasing strategy knowing our support helps our fellow small Canadian businesses re-invest in their communities and succeed in the face of incredible competition.

In short, it is an good example of “walking the talk” and is simply the right thing to do.

-Steve

Change is Good, Right?

Okay, there’s no easy way to say it – P’lovers in Port Perry is for sale. There. I’ve said it. Perhaps you’ve heard already through the grapevine? We’ve been discussing it quietly for a little while now, but have yet to make an official announcement. Here it is.

After six fantastic years as “Head P’lover” in Port Perry, I need to change direction. Sadly, it’s that simple. The decision was not an easy one, I assure you. P’lovers as a business has never been stronger; eco-awareness amongst the general population has never been higher; I worked through the most difficult early years; all that trial and (lots of) error is in the past; there is incredible growth potential. When valuating the decision to leave, there are lots of things in the “You’re an idiot for selling” column.

What can I say? It’s a family thing. A matter of priorities, you know?

Of course every cloud has a silver lining and all that jazz. Since I’m stepping out of the picture, it means there’s a wonderful opportunity for another high energy, environmentally-minded entrepreneur to step forward and make P’lovers even bigger, better, more relevant — raise the bar even further.

Is that YOU?

It’s a great business. It’s a fun business. It’s a rewarding business. You really do get to make a real difference in people’s lives every single day. That’s the thing I definitely like best about P’lovers — connecting with people. Lots and lots of really wonderful people. Whether it is our longtime customers; the eco-junkies who can always teach me a thing or two about green living or the newly initiated with their wonder and enthusiasm, rarely a day goes by when my day isn’t brightened with these encounters.

Perhaps you are looking for a good retirement business. Or a good family venture. Or it is time to put a little more meaning into your career. Or you have a few good eco-conscious buddies who are all hankering for a new challenge. P’lovers definitely fits any and all of these scenarios.

It is definitely worth a click to get a little more information, don’t you think? This is how I started P’lovers in Port Perry six years ago – with a desire to make a career change, a google search, a click of the mouse, and a series of emails with Liz Crocker, “P’lover extraordinaire” and co-founder of the franchise.

Seems like yesterday. Time flies, doesn’t it?

-Steve

* P’lovers Business Listing

Community Supported Agriculture

We, here at P’lovers, have started a new venture. We all feel it is important to buy locally, to keep our money close to home. There is a bakery (Hank’s Pastries) and a butcher (Herrington’s) on the main street that we frequent and now we can happily tell you we are purchasing our produce from local farmers. And guess what? They deliver!

There are a total of 7 families here at Queen Street Commons taking part in this exciting community supported agriculture (CSA) project.  For 20 weeks throughout the summer and fall, Coopers Farm in Uxbridge delivers us our farm fresh produce every Thursday morning.

We are in week number 2 and so far we have been enjoying an abundance of lettuces, spinach, strawberries, rhubarb, green onions and garlic and are looking forward to much more. The bushel baskets arrive smelling and tasting like the great outdoors and all we have to do is cart it to our homes and refrigerate.

To arrive home after a full day and throw a salad together that we know has come from our community farmers just makes it taste better.

The baskets are filled with whatever produce is plentiful at that time of the season. We are happy to know we are getting the season’s best, freshest goodies.

-Jude

• Find an Ontario CSA near you.