Header photo credit: Mitchell Petersen
As part of the Surfrider Chicago Chapter’s Great Lakes Friendly Restaurants program, we’re highlighting local businesses that are making a positive impact through sustainability and environmental stewardship. We spoke with the team at necessary & sufficient coffee®, a Chicago-based coffee company whose commitment to zero-waste operations, community building, and protecting our waterways demonstrates how small businesses can help drive meaningful change.
Tell us a little bit about your restaurant.
necessary & sufficient coffee® is a woman-owned, community-based specialty coffee company rooted in ecological, economical, and social sustainability. Both our locations — one in Logan Square and the other in Printer’s Row — operate under a zero-waste model by providing customers with compostable and recyclable products, and utilizing single-waste-stream options to responsibly dispose of waste products like plastic shipping materials and the tetrapaks from alternative milk products. We take pride in protecting the sustainability of our staff by providing a guaranteed living wage to all employees. necessary & sufficient coffee® partners with other local, sustainable businesses on seasonally-rotating dishes made with locally-sourced food ingredients.
Can you share the story behind the founding of necessary & sufficient coffee?
necessary & sufficient coffee® was founded as a placemaking art project to bring neighbors together under the umbrella of good coffee, good food, and the belief that each small change and individual contribution is part of the broader artwork that is social change.
The Great Lakes and ocean are central to your business. Can you share more about how?
Restaurants sit upstream of so much waste that goes from waterways into our oceans, which is why the Great Lakes region is so important. We may be inland from the ocean, but the changes we make here can still make all the difference. If we can reduce plastic before it hits the wastestream, that’s structural intervention. We love knowing that we have a role in actual environmental betterment.
Our Printer’s Row cafe sits less than a mile from Lake Michigan, which gives us the chance to marvel at the beauty of our planet’s natural water systems and actively participate in their protection. The five Great Lakes together contain one-fifth of all Earth’s freshwater! These lakes flow into one another and into the Atlantic Ocean via the St. Lawrence River. Alongside providing clean drinking water, these lakes have a direct effect on the health of our oceans. Despite our proximity to these natural marvels, sustainable business practices are still evolving in the Midwest. We like to participate in that change. We may not be able to solve global warming or single-handedly save our planet’s oceans, but we can make meaningful local changes.
How did you learn about Surfrider and come to join the Great Lakes Friendly Restaurants program?
We learned about Surfrider through our collaboration with the Shedd Aquarium. Just like our initial involvement with the Shedd, getting involved with this ocean-focused sustainability program was an easy choice.
Surfrider’s program aligns with our company values, in particular our commitment to eliminating single-use plastics. As a coffee shop, especially moving into another warm Chicago summer, there are plenty of opportunities to opt for compostable alternatives to plastic-based cups and containers. Joining the Surfrider Great Lakes Friendly program creates an opportunity to show new customers that we are a sustainable choice through Surfrider’s Great Lakes Friendly Restaurants list, while directing our current customers to Surfrider for education and opportunities to implement sustainable practices at home.
What Great Lakes Friendly practices does your cafe have in place?
We offer a discount for customers who bring a reusable thermos or takeaway cup, have implemented water conservation and energy-efficiency practices, and have a robust composting program. We’re also an inaugural partner of the Let’s Shedd Plastic Program and work in collaboration with Chicago’s own Shedd Aquarium to reduce waste caused by single-use plastic and introduce sustainable initiatives to our community.
What inspired you to follow sustainable practices?
Our cafe owner, Kate Vrijmoet, was raised in a sustainability-minded household and was surprised to find that Midwestern culture seemed to lag behind other parts of the U.S. in adopting sustainable business practices. It’s amazing how many people don’t know how composting works, or why it’s important — only because no one has told them! As a small business, we live by our values. Customers at our shop participate in recycling and composting simply by buying our coffee. Our staff share our values and are equipped and excited to tell customers about the ways we can make small changes for a cleaner and safer planet. On the surface, our coffee shop doesn’t look too different from any other, and that’s by design. Making sustainable changes doesn’t have to be wildly (or even mildly) disruptive, which we hope shows customers that it’s easier than they think to do some good in the world.
Why do you think it’s important for the hospitality industry to prioritize sustainability?
Now is the time for change. The onus of sustainability has traditionally fallen on the consumer to make better choices in their personal purchasing life, which can feel overwhelming without support. That’s why grassroots organizations are so important. Our cafe owner has testified at city council meetings on the effectiveness of our sustainability practices, and it’s gaining legislative attention. In terms of practical change, one of our favorite stories is that of a local Logan Square community on Kimball Road that formed their own composting program based on the one we utilize in the cafe.
What role can you see the industry playing in protecting our Great Lakes and ocean?
Restaurants are the last stop before the landfill, which gives us an incredible opportunity to reduce waste before it ever reaches our waterways. At our cafe, it's part of every barista's job to sort compost correctly and make sure waste reaches the proper facilities.
Do you find that customers are receptive to your mission and eco-friendly practices?
Yes! Here in the Midwest, people tend to be a little less familiar, and therefore sometimes confused by our practices, but we see that as an opportunity rather than a hindrance. We make it easy, doing all the composting and recycling for you when you buy from our shop and enjoy our products. On a consumer level, the response is overwhelmingly positive. We still hope to increase our impact by serving as a positive example to other Chicago businesses.
Can you share a guest story or piece of feedback you’ve received about your sustainability efforts?
A few years ago, at our Logan Square location, one of our baristas began to notice that bags of personal compost were making their way into our composting bins. One day, we saw a customer holding her bag in line while she waited for her drink, and decided to ask her about it. She bashfully admitted that she had been bringing her compost to place in our bin, as she didn’t have composting options at her own home but wanted to reduce waste. We were thrilled! We have some pretty awesome customers, and are glad that we can be a source of inspiration, and — in that particular case — a place to bring compostable items that otherwise would have been thrown in the trash.
Do you have any advice for restaurants looking to make more sustainable choices?
It’s easier than you think. It can be hard for Midwestern businesses to see the value in making the effort to prioritize sustainability initiatives, but once you get started, all it takes is commitment and a little ingenuity. Our hope is to provoke a change in attitude amongst our customer-base so that consumer demand might encourage these changes in other businesses. Improving operational sustainability is always an evolutionary journey of refining best practices.
Can you share anything you’re currently working on or other sustainable practices you’re hoping to implement in the future?
We are looking into options for our to-go iced drinks, as we would love to transition away from bioplastics. We are researching aluminum alternatives and hope to find the best option that we can implement long-term. There are always new ways we can improve our practices and products, and we’re committed to, and excited about, that evolution!
Anything upcoming you'd like to plug?
We have to give a shoutout to some of our partners who make our sustainability programs possible!
- Urban Canopy is our compost partner. They make it easy to compost by delivering a bin to us on a weekly basis and picking it up.
- Down At The Farm co-op provides locally grown produce.
- Our roasting partner, Olympia Roasting Company, is a certified B Corp and has a trailblazing “fair for all” pricing program with their farmer direct sources.
What are your goals for the future?
We aim to inspire other Midwestern businesses in how they too can make composting and recycling the norm here. We're committed to that evolution.
Is your local restaurant Great Lakes Friendly? If so, encourage them to sign up and join the movement to end single-use plastics! You can also get involved in Chicago through the Chicago Chapter!
Want to help Surfrider stop plastic pollution at the source? Consider donating today!