caring about a pile of nothing

i don't like creating waste/ trash/ garbage (or rubbish as I like to call it). it makes me feel lazy. thankfully, cafe haven has decided on a few things to help reduce the level of waste and increase recycling efforts. first off, we have six bins/ trash cans which we use to separate mixed paper, milk jugs, bottles/ cans, general waste and other plastics. the landlord also provides containers for removing cardboard too which helps (but I think they could do more). we also collect organic waste so that we can add to a compost...although the local council is helping me look for someone who wants it or a place where we can dispose it! maybe I should sell it...

we are attempting to be green at every level. we use compostable corn-based containers for the to-go drinks as well as avoid plastic stirrers. i would like to charge extra for to-go drinks offering the money to a green charity but right now we don't have a till system that can offer such a solution. a new cash register is on the horizon. i would like to do more. shortly, we shall have filtered water available for customers (so we can avoid selling water in plastic bottles). green electricity would be great except it costs a fortune - too much for a young business in its first desperate year! any ideas on energy-saving solutions or low-impact solutions are welcome!

i have to be honest, it kills me when i see customers and passers-by throwing cigarette ends or trash onto the floor outside our cafe. i just don't understand why people do it, why people don't care about the mess they are making. i remember once calling after a bloke with an empty paper cup in my hand shouting "excuse me, i think you dropped this". the guy looked at me completely lost and replied in a quite unsure tone, "thank you?". this place has a long way to go before it has the problems of western India - the worst waste situation i have ever seen - but wind-swept trash piling up on the sides of buildings is not the look a 21st century city should be aiming for.