One of our favorite greenies, Michael Zawacki, is donating an environmental audit to the PIT ahead of our first Carrotmob event. He’s also the Co-Chairman of the Emerging Green Builders of New York and a member of the Urban Green Council, and founded an environmental consulting firm called Sage Environments. His next and most exciting venture is creating a green coffee shop in his neighborhood, Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn. Naturally, we needed to learn more about this guy and figure out how and why he became Mr. Green NYC. I asked him to sit down with me in one of my favorite cafés. Here’s what we talked about.
Me: You’re a pretty busy guy. What’s inspired you to take on the project of opening a coffee shop with an environmental concept?
Michael: I live in the Bed-Stuy neighborhood. I really love the history and community there, and I want to enhance it. I want the coffee shop to exist as a community center where locals can hang out and learn something about the history of the neighborhood in a fun and unique way. I also want the business to service the neighborhood community groups and employ local students. I’m hoping to network with other green businesses and bring awareness to those that factor the environment into their operations.
Me: Personally, I spend a ton of time in coffee shops and love the vibes of different places. Tell me what you envision for yours.
Michael: Ideally, I want to purchase one of the old, vacant buildings on the southern edge of Bed-Stuy and create a warm, interactive interior. I imagine things like decorating with historical artifacts and inscribing interesting facts about the neighborhood’s past in different places, like on the tables or signs. I see a menu of fair trade coffees and local foods written into a map of Bed-Stuy. I’ve given a lot of thought to seating that’s comfortable both for groups and people coming in with their laptops to do work. I’d love to use old theatre seats. One of the details I’m considering is creating a conference room that can be made private with movable brownstone shutters when in use. I want to call it Bedford Corners, after a past name of a section of the Bed-Stuy neighborhood.
Me: I didn’t realize Bed-Stuy held so much historical significance. What kinds of artifacts are you thinking of including?
Michael: This past summer I was walking home one day and noticed some construction workers working on the facade of a building. They had uncovered and partially removed a huge, metal, retro-looking sign for a café that been hidden as long as I’ve been here. I had to have it. I asked the guys if I could take it; they looked a little confused about what I would do with a giant old sign, but they agreed to give it to me. I lugged the thing home in the heat and I’ll feature it somewhere in the café. I did some research and discovered the origins of sign: it was a restaurant that I believe was open as far back as the 1930s and called Ormond Café.
Me: Neat. Where do you find this stuff out?
Michael: Days of research at the NYPL. Also, I got a lot of my impressions about the way Bed-Stuy used to look from the book “Images of America: Bedford-Stuyvesant ” by Wilhelmena Rhodes Kelly. I’ve been in touch with her and she’s a great resource for information about the history of Bed-Stuy.
Me: Back to your coffee shop and the environment. Is it more difficult to make an older building, built before people had environmental concerns, green?
Michael: You’d be surprised. Older buildings that still stand today can be very energy-efficient. The builders took advantage of techniques like cross ventilation and southern exposures to help cool and heat the building. Some of the newer buildings that were put up quickly and cheaply are more in need of environmental retrofitting.
Me: You also founded and still run Sage Environments, an environmental consulting company, that helps residences and business green themselves. How does that work? Who’s the governing authority that rubber-stamps buildings and businesses as “GREEN” or “NOT GREEN”?
Michael: Generally, LEED [Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design], by the US Green Building Council enjoys status as the main decider of greenness. Consultants recommend LEED-certification for the projects, and later they can be approved by the USGBC. Another organization that’s been gaining more traction lately is the Green Restaurant Association. The market is growing for restaurants where people can go and know they’re enjoying an environmentally-considerate meal.
Me: Interesting. It’s exciting that consumers are starting to care more about the environmental impact of their consumption. There’s also been much talk about “green jobs” lately, and how it’s a growing field in NYC. What’s your take on that?
Michael: Sadly, green jobs in this city are still mostly talk. There’s evidence that really only a couple hundred of them exist. It’s certainly not so big that it’s going to have much of an effect on the employment market yet. Personally, I believe that as our economy changes, we will see more of an influence from the green sector.
Me: Do you think that NYC is ahead of or behind other cities regarding “green movements”?
Michael: I’m speaking entirely from my own experience, but I’d say NYC is somewhere in the middle of the spectrum between going green and environmentally deplorable. I’ve lived in Portland, Oregon, who’s ahead of us, and in the Midwest, where they’re mostly behind. Shortly after I moved here in January 2006, I noticed the office where I worked threw out reams upon reams of paper. I ended up heading a committee to catalyze the company’s recycling program. It was challenging at first, but we were able to get a few small changes implemented like eliminating bottled water, so that was encouraging. I think that’s something of a metaphor for where New York’s at right now. Most people or businesses aren’t going to go green on their own, but with a some prompting, they just might.
Me: Good, because that’s what Carrotmob is all about. You know we’ll be knocking on the door to hold an event there as soon as Bedford Corners open their doors!
Thanks to Michael for taking time out of his ulta-busy schedule to talk with me (do you believe he’s got a day job, too?). Reach out to Michael at michael@sageenvironments.com.
