Cooper Green Design | The Blog

I live, work, and blog in Northampton, MA. It is a lively little city in the pioneer valley in western Massachusetts. Visitors come here for the music scene and the coffee. The city parking garage even has a sign at the entrance that reads “Welcome to Northampton! Where the coffee is strong, and so are the women.”

One of the best strong cups of coffee to be had is at Haymarket Cafe on Main Street. There are many reasons why I love this place: The quirky customers, the attentive staff, the good coffee, the soba noodles,  the free wireless, and the compost basket in the toilet room. Yes, that’s right. The compost basket in the toilet room!

Compost in the Toilet Room

As an architect and green building consultant, I tend notice the little things that businesses do in order to be just a little bit greener. Haymarket is doing a number of these little things that I think are worth mentioning:

• The coffee is always organic and fair-trade.
• They give a discount for bringing in a personal travel mug. They even wash out the sticky coffee residue from the previous cup! (Sorry baristas.)
• There are self-serve water stations on both floors with real glasses, not  paper cups.
• Food and bevereges are served on plates and with silverware instead of disposables.
• Haymarket uses local ingredients in many of the food items.
• There are convenient compost and recycling bins near the waste containers. Haymarket has done a great job of fostering a culture of awareness.  I always observe customers sorting their compost and recycling here instead of lazily dumping everything in the waste bins as people do in many other local establishments.
• And my new favorite: There is a compost bin in the toilet room!