Veya Café Takes First Green Steps

(Sandy Ground, Anguilla) - Set back just slightly from the bustle of the Sandy Ground shore, Veya Café is a cool alternative to the beach bar restaurant. Shaded by willowy trees and with the soothing sounds of water trickling into a small waterfall-fed pool, Veya Café is matching its relaxing and nature-based ambience with nature-friendly green business practices. One of the most obvious changes that has taken place over the last couple of months is its management’s choice to phase out plastics.

Earlier this year, in collaborative initiative among the Anguilla National Trust, the Anguilla Energy Committee, and the Soroptimist Club of Anguilla, the St. Martin-based company Good 2  Go introduced a range of biodegradable products to Anguilla’s food service industry. Recognising that Anguilla is an end consumer – that all waste generated on the island, stays on the island – and the importance therefore of reducing the amount of waste entering Anguilla’s landfill, the ANT has been working with Good 2 Go to provide plastic alternatives to Anguilla’s business communities and households. These products are made out of biodegradable polymers, starches, and complimentary ingredients that can be disposed of in composts and landfills. When they degrade, they leave no toxic residues behind.

Veya Café has been the first business on the island to make this switch. The Café has replaced its plastic cups, plastic take out containers, and paper napkins with hot and cold cups and microwavable and freezer-safe carry-away containers made out of corn starch and sugar cane and napkins made out of recycled paper. Manager Neal Kahn, says that the Café is “trying to do our own small part to help the island. Everyone here wants to do what’s best for the island and the earth. We can’t just talk about conservation, we need to do something about it and that involves using less resources and using them more wisely.” Pleased with the quality and durability of the products and the ease with which it is able to biodegrade in the landfill, Mr. Kahn is already looking at making its next order.

For more information about the available biodegradable products, their prices, and what individuals and companies can do to reduce their waste, please contact the Anguilla National Trust at 497 5297 or antpam@anguillanet.com.