The next time you take a big bite of a sweet, delicious pie from Achatz Handmade Pie Company, you can consider yourself helping the movement to ‘go green.?
Located in downtown Oxford for five years, Achatz has gone to great lengths to become more environmentally friendly.
‘We recycle anything we can and even encourage our customers to recycle,? said Niccole Malone, manager of the Oxford store.
Achatz offers up to 40 cents off when customers bring back pie tins, bags and boxes so they can be reused.
Also, each of their six stores have a compost bucket that is picked up at the end of each week and taken to the Armada location where it is mixed with a larger compost pile.
But that’s not all.
They use energy efficient light bulbs when possible, and try to use paper instead of Styrofoam and plastic. Large walk-in coolers are always turned off when they’re not being used.
Achatz also cuts down on waste caused by shipping and packaging, and benefits the local economy by using Michigan-grown products, like fruit, flour and sugar.
‘Achatz is known for everything being all natural. I think it all goes along with that,? Malone said, noting the owners, Dave and Wendy Achatz, are ‘environmentally conscious.?
Their un-purchased food never goes to waste, either. ‘Any of our product that we do not sell we try to sample, donate or give away so we don’t create excess waste,? Malone said.
Even the furniture at their Chesterfield location is Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified.
‘We try very hard to make sure we are doing our part in going green,? she said. ‘We try to encourage our customers and other businesses to do the same.?