We have been lovingly nominated for the award below:
Best Service to Make You Smile
In this digital age of automated existence, sometimes we forget to value the important stuff like good old fashioned face-to-face service. Whether it’s a pizza made to order, artworks out of lattes or a waiter who remembers you’re crazy for creamed spinach just like your mum used to make, this category showcases service that makes you bust out a smile and tip like it’s actually a pleasure! Vote for us in Brisbane
It is an honour to be nominated in this category because while we love serving great coffee end hope that is an experience that you walk away feeling like you have had. For me personally there has always been more to Urban Grind than just that.
So if we have ever managed to make you smile please vote for us.
This film made me smile a lot and was so touching that I couldn’t help but shed a few happy tears. I know you will love it because you are awesome! And when I say awesome I mean it with a Rhino style emphasis… click here for the full effect of that statement.
Did you know that over 8000 tonnes of batteries end up on Australian landfill each year? You can start recycling your batteries at Battery World today or at Urban Grind if that happens to be more convenient for you.
As far as I understand it you can recycle all batteries from watch batteries to car batteries at Battery World though Urban Grind can only really accept up to D sized batteries. So check those desk & kitchen drawers and dig out those old batteries that you just knew would have been environmentally uncool throw in the bin. We are collecting now.
I would like to thank Albion Battery World for getting us set up to collect batteries.
Oh and seriously… you should be using rechargeable batteries anyway. No excuses (that I am aware of anyway).
Our friends at map magazine first alerted us to this book as one of them there, in particular Carl Lindgren is very big on reminding us all to dream. I have lots of fun readying this with my son Oscar and every night as he is going to bed we all ask each other what we are going to dream about. We will continue to teach him to dream as he gets older and remind him that he can do anything if he ever forgets (he is pretty sure that he can already do anything that he wants).
So check out the Awesome Book. Buy it for you kids, as a gift or just for yourself. Find whatever excuse you need, cause for every book that you buy one gets given to a child for free. Get more details at the Awesome World Foundation. The video is well worth watching.
It’s that time of year again where you find a good car parking space, put down some tarps, roll out your turf and invite people to PARK. Urban Grind’s park will be in Harcourt St this year from 7am till 11am. For me PARK(ing) Day is about many things but mostly about starting conversations because that tends to lead to those other things anyway. What? Anyway…
This is from a local office. I am told that this is a little under five days worth of cups between three. While impressive two things stand out to me. The first is that they are obviously awesome customers and for that I am grateful. Secondly, that is a lot of wasted resources. Like wow!
So as of tomorrow, if you bring your own cup we will give you a takeaway discount. In this way we can say thank you for being regular customers and see if we can’t reduce some of this waste. Common sense conditions apply.
Awesome. This guys speech gives me hope. First Obama now this guy. Surely Australia can’t be far off leadership like this.
At first I think that this guy must have been a past Prime Minister and was so surprised to find out that he is the current. Gordon Brown’s speech is far from political spin. It talks practically and wisely about the future. How problems like climate change will need a global effort and how we need to be structuring ourselves towards this effort. I found his talk very inspiring. He doesn’t talk like a politician – he talks like a man that can understand a problem and formulate a solution that includes concerns far beyond his own political party or personal political aspirations.
But what does this say about us? I said, first Obama, now this guy. I feel like something is happening/changing and it must be us. Men like these exist all the time, You probably know or have at least heard of one. Check out TED.com if you haven’t. I heard it said once that Hitler emerged as a leader because the mindset of the people allowed him too. I hesitate to call it democracy as I am not so sure that is what we have in our country nor is it the force I think which is at play, but I do believe it to be true that leaders emerge when the people are ready. But the kind of leader, is determined by the mindset of the people. At elections it feels as though there are no Obamas or Gordon Browns to choose from in Australia. Are we ready for such leaders? If they did emerge would we recognise them? I think we like to think in business terms in Australia, especially when it comes to politics. Maybe the leaders I dream of don’t see a market for their kind of leadership just now?
When I think of Australia and leadership as it relates to the rest of the world I see Australia having a wonderful opportunity to play a leading role as we face the challenges that lie ahead. My reasons are derived from the following 2 quotes.
“People who have wild ideas about how to run the earth ought to start with a small garden” – Ahmed Kathrada
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” – Margaret Mead
Hello. Just a quick note to let you know that we are now opening till 2pm on Saturday and Sunday. As you know we have a small range of food but as a reminder we do have Burcher Muesli, Fruit & Nut toast and cakes, etc so it is possible to have a light breakfast or snack. Thanks. Morgs
Shoes can be pretty mean things from the products they use or don’t reuse to the workers that don’t get paid properly but we are all lucky these days to have some alternatives and dare I say it fashionable alternatives. I know of at least 4 good shoe stories.
Simple Shoes
These guys top my list as they are by far the most fashionable with the biggest range I think. Their big focus is on the sustainablity of their shoes in regards to products used. The pair I own have soles made from old car tyres, the laces from soda bottles, organic cotton, hemp and the list goes on. I am not sure if they are certified ‘fair trade’ but they do have a page on Ethical Supply Chain Guidelines which must be a positive thing. The only problem I have with these shoes is that they are so hard to get in Australia. Either you have to order them from online or choose from the very small range that Kathmandu carries.
Tom’s Shoes – One for One
(Taken from the site). TOMS Shoes was founded on a simple premise: For every pair you purchase, TOMS will give a pair of new shoes to a child in need. One for One. Using the purchasing power of individuals to benefit the greater good is what we’re all about.
Please, at least watch the quick intro video and for a better insight into the man behind Tom’s Shoes watch this short talk between Blake Mycoskie and Bill Clinton where Blake talks about his dream to eradicate a disease with shoes.
Etiko
I make coffee in a pair of Etiko shoes. These guys are based in Australia and the big thing here is about Fair Trade products in particular the Etiko Sneakers. Made in Pakistan by a certified fairtrade manufacturer they also feature a rubber sole which has been certified sustainable by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), making the sneakers ethically and environmentally sound. And now they seem to be organic also. While you are at their online shop be sure to pick up a fair trade soccer ball to kick around with your new shoes.
Terra Planna
This one I have only just heard about. Turns out we have a pair of these in our household too. Rachel bought a pair when she was last in New York some time ago. They are striving for sustainable shoes too and I am still reading through their website myself so for more info head on over there. But again here is an example of very fashionable shoes that are trying to step lighter on the planet. Looks like they have a particularly good women’s range too.
So make sure you bookmark these and next time you need a new pair of shoes go shopping online and get a unique and sustainable pair. I love showing of my simple shoes. It’s even cooler when the other person lifts up their foot and says, “Me Too!”
Today I was reminded of a few things. What goes around comes around. It is safe to trust people. And you can never judge a book buy it’s cover.
Took my son down to the local hardware today to get a few small things and upon reaching the counter I turned to Oscar, my son and exclaimed “Oh no I forgot my wallet!”. Instantly the guy in front of us said don’t worry I will pay for it. I didn’t hesitate and said thanks because the best advice ever given to me was to “Never deny someone the opportunity to give.” – Nigel Reed. David, the generous man in line told me how he had once filled his car with petrol, then at the counter realised he had no money only to be surprised by a women willing to pay the whole bill. He said that he is now always on the look out to keep paying such a kind act forward. It reminded me that when you do a good thing for a person or a bad thing against a person it gets multiplied which is why you should do good things. A random act of kindness really wakes something up in people I think and it will be a feeling they will want others to experience. If you have never seen the movie Pay it Forward I highly recommend it.
Earlier in the day I had another wonderful encounter with a customer that had returned to pay her bill after what must have been at least six weeks. I have a personal policy of trusting that if people don’t have the cash on them or they only have card I trust them and ask them to simply fix us up when it is next convenient for them. So far everyone has returned as far as I know as I don’t keep a record each time and I usually forget moments later that this person still ‘owes’ us. It’s a nice place to be in cause it kind of means for me that I get to live in a world where everyone is trust worthy and my personal theory goes that you can’t trust people if you never give them the opportunity to be trustworthy. I know some have abused this but that’s ok cause the percentage is so low that I could probably only name one person in nearly 8 years of Urban Grind. Anyway… six weeks ago I declared to my awesome (just as her she will tell you herself) assistant that this particular women has obviously scammed us and is never coming back. But such is life yadda yadda. She had been so vague the first time that she came into the shop and we just couldn’t work her out and I guess the experience made us wonder a bit as to what was going on and we started to get sus. Then she came up to pay and only had card, no cash and while I said sure just fix us up later I honestly thought that she was never coming back. I didn’t trust her. Today she walks in and I pretend I don’t remember her, but I do and she asks for a coffee and would like to fix up her bill from last time she was in Brisbane. How is that the first time I am so sure I couldn’t trust someone I am wrong. So I get talking to her cause now she’s cool you know, I trust her and I can treat her like everyone else (I just called myself a tosser so you don’t need to) and she mentions that she doesn’t come into the cities much or something like that and now I am getting the sense that maybe her being a bit vague was actually her way of just finding her way around slowly. She has actually been so patient the first time that she waited like 20 minutes for the line to die down before ordering. Maybe I can go easy on myself for thinking that is strange as so many people these days are impatient and pressed for time.
This is not the first time that I have found that it only takes about a maximum of 2 questions to start to get to know someone. If you think you know someone on sight, inquire, you will be so wrong unless you are gifted. I once thought one of my customers once was an obvious bum until I asked he once what he does and it turns out he was a retired physics professor in a field that I had never heard of and these days he just likes to tent to his garden. Speak to people, they have stories that will out do your assumptions.
“You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.” - Buckminster Fuller
