CapeSpace Goes Green & How You Can Start

Glass bottles and aluminum bottles in various sizes

One famous frog may disagree, but CapeSpace is showing that it’s easy to be green.

A little less than three years after Cape Cod’s coworking facility opened, its President Robbin Orbison is leading a charge to have the shared office space certified as a Cape & Islands Green business. The program sets criteria for local organizations and businesses to achieve that minimizes their impact on the environment.

Where did Robbin start?

With a company whose name epitomizes the eco-friendly ideals that CapeSpace is embracing – Green Road Refill.

Owned by Jessica Georges, Green Road Refill operates out of a bus named Bettie, selling a range of products designed to be refilled. Customers can buy a refillable bottle or use their own in purchasing items that include shampoos, lotions, household cleaning products, and more.

CapeSpace, which offers everything from private offices to meeting space, will be using Green Road Refill’s dish soap, hand soap, hand sanitizer, and hand lotion with the potential to add more of its earth-conscious products in the future.

Starting in June, Green Road Refill will be coming to CapeSpace on the first Friday of every month so its members can easily refill their own empty bottles. These visits will serve as a monthly reminder of how all of us can play a role in protecting our environment.

“When we launched CapeSpace, one of our goals was to give back to our community as much as possible,” said Orbison. “This is one of the ways we are doing so not just for today, but for future generations. We can all take steps towards a more sustainable lifestyle by reducing the amount of plastic waste we produce.”

The effort is also allowing Orbison to support a burgeoning small business that has ties to CapeSpace. Georges went through CapeSpace member EforAll Cape Cod’s Accelerator Program which is aimed at nurturing entrepreneurs and new business ventures in the region.

Orbison wants to inspire other organizations, small business owners, and community leaders to follow suit. “I hope this encourages businesses to take a look at their own practices and see how they can adopt a more environmentally-friend approach,” she said.

How you can start:

To that end, CapeSpace will be hosting a Cape & Islands Green workshop on Friday, April 26, from 8:30 to 10:30 am, that will explain what the program is and how business owners on Cape Cod can implement it in their own workplace.

With Earth Day on Monday, April 22, Orbison said all of this couldn’t be happening at a more appropriate time of year.

CapeSpace will continue its efforts to educate the public about the importance of minimizing our environmental footprint by hosting the Cape Cod Technology Council’s EarthTech Expo on Saturday, May 4, 10 am to 4 pm. Free to the public, the event will feature workshops from regional leaders in green energy and will highlight energy efficiency solutions for home and business.