The Buzz on a Swellr Biz: Greenward Shop
By Sara Hopson, Community Engagement Associate (@sahopson)
For four years, Greenward owners Scott Walker and his wife, Simone, have been helping Cambridge residents and beyond be more cognizant of the ways in which the things they buy affect our planet. “Our hope is that people who shop at Greenward don't feel that their environmental responsibility begins and ends with shopping here, and that they start to think more about what they buy elsewhere and how they can reduce their environmental impact in other, more important aspects”, Scott said.
By focusing on “eco-modern” goods, which they qualify as items that are eco-friendly and well-designed (attractive and functional, not just cheap and adequate), the shop’s inventory appeals to the aesthetic sensibilities of consumers and not only their consciences. With the resurgence of interest in ‘going green’ around late 2006, Scott and Simone thought a store offering those type of products – along with unique items by local crafters using recyclable materials – would fit well in the area.
For his part, Scott can point to a few instances in his upbringing and young life that inspired him to feel drawn to this industry. Although he’s always been interested in the environment, he remembers especially noticing the differences between growing up in Orlando, FL and summers he spent with family in Vermont, swimming in a pond and reading old paperbacks. That lifestyle stood out compared to those typical of Orlando, a city which could be said to exemplify the urban sprawl of 20th century America with its “wasteful suburban development, car culture, strip malls, chain stores, and tacky tourist junk”, as Scott described it.
Luckily, his New England-bred family taught him not to be wasteful or buy things he didn’t need and he believes this philosophy meshes well with an adherence to environmentalism. After studying at Cornell, he wanted to pursue a career in renewable energy or mass transit, but at the time (1998), the only viable options were to work for defense contractors. Instead, he moved to Cambridge to work for a software company before returning to school for Urban Planning. His last job doing that involved bike and pedestrian planning for the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) – an apt job considering Scott hasn’t owned a car since the last year of college, and his shop also encourages residents of the area to reduce their carbon footprint as much as possible.
Greenward actually has several initiatives in place to reward community members for greening their daily lives. Their Zipcar member discount is one of these, rewarding people who do away with unnecessary ‘car culture’ in a city like ours that is so bike, foot, and public transit-friendly. To that end, they’ve also introduced customers to Bicycle Benefits and have participated in Green Streets Walk/Ride Days. Scott explains: “I've always thought that incentives for good behavior are a good idea, and it's one reason we have tended to offer discounts for things like that.”
Scott & Simone have one corner of the shop devoted to helping you green your everyday life - with brochures, flyers, and even bins for recycling corks and compact fluorescent bulbs.
Other successful ventures have been helping people learn to compost and recycle in order to rid them of habits like buying bottled water and using disposable shopping bags. Products that ease this process for Greenward customers include water bottles from Klean Kanteen (one of which I bought with my Swellr gift certificate and absolutely love) and reusable shopping and produce bags from ChicoBag. Other popular products are kitchen and home goods from bambu and one of Scott and Simone’s favorite local companies, Preserve. They’ve also recycled hundreds of pounds of e-waste with their Technotrash bins.
Scott makes it a priority to keep open channels of communication with anyone interested in the shop and going green. Greenward has an award-winning an email newsletter, a blog featuring local green businesses, and active Facebook and Twitter pages that focus on news specific to goings-on at the store or local events. In-store events have included a worm composting workshop this spring and a presentation on a co-housing community in Belfast, ME. Also, they’ve been conducting outside events with their bicycle-powered "mobile unit”, and look for them selling a selection of food-related products at the Allston Farmers' Market on the last Friday of every month.
As we at Swellr wholeheartedly believe, it needs to be a two-way street between community members and business owners for innovative solutions and lifestyle changes to truly work. Scott says it well himself: “Cantabrigians are a pretty educated, informed, and environmentally-minded bunch, which is why we thought Greenward would be a good fit. Sometimes it's the customer who's teaching us, which is great.” Learning, and helping others to learn – that’s what it’s all about.
