Elevate Blog

Coffees offer us a way to look at our relationship to the larger world, build connections with others that define our mission, vision and values. According to the International Coffee Organization (ICO), there are three characteristics that affect consumer attitudes towards coffee: health effect, drinking pleasure, and sustainability of production. Consumers demand a high-quality product, thus moving the market towards specializat …

The University of Michigan has made a serious commitment to the environment with its sustainability program known as Planet Blue.  The University, located in Ann Arbor, leads the way in reducing food waste from their dining facilities and campus with projects such as the Zero Waste Picnic, The Maize and Blue Cupboard, and EarthFest. These projects act to strengthen five broad sustainability goals: food, waste, water, ene …

Fast fashion is out, ethical fashion is in How much do your customers really know about the clothing you produce? Are you transparent about the raw materials used? How about where the clothing is produced and who makes it? What about the packaging? From pollution and poor labor conditions in factories, to the extra waste created by the packaging needed for each piece of clothing - the mass production of cheap apparel is hard on the environm …

In recent years restaurants have been going green and implementing sustainable practices to conserve energy, reduce waste, and provide healthier offerings.The Food Service Industry creates a lot of waste, from food waste through to trash created by single-use plastics such as straws, take-out containers, and to-go cups. The packaging is used for only a few minutes and then tossed out in the trash. Traditional food service containers take 25-100 y …