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Published August 30, 2018 at 3456 × 5184 in Executive Team 2018-2019

Helen Zhang

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We are happy to announce the new Co-Manager for the 2019 year, Helen Zhang! Here are a few words from Helen: "My name is Helen and I'm so excited to be the next Caffiends Co-Manager!! I'm currently in my third year doing a double major in Criminology and Political Science. I've been a Caffiends volunteer since my first year and was this year's catering co-director. My time in the cafe has been one of the most formative experiences in university. I've learned a lot about equity, sustainability, coffee and most importantly, how to incentivize people, and I'm excited to learn more as co-manager. While on shift, I love experimenting with interesting drink ideas e.g. Pumpkin Spiced Latte 😉 and Peppermint Mocha (let me know if you have any cool ideas/recipes, always looking for inspiration)! I look forward to meeting everyone and chatting with you all. Let's have an amazing rest of the year 🙂"

As we near our close for the winter break, we are reflecting on the AMAZING semester behind us. Over the past few months, we have accomplished some great things as a community. When we opened our doors again in September, we had a new couch, a new community library bookshelf, and a new layout that we hoped would increase accessibility and comfort in the space. We also welcomed to our space a brand new artwork that was designed by volunteer Ellie Aston and painted collaboratively between our volunteers, and this work will hopefully hang in the cafe for years to come! In terms of products, we launched a brand new espresso bean and developed a wonderful relationship with our new supplier, Detour Roasters. We brought in some delicious donuts. We launched a seasonal teas rotation. We even had a one-day flash sale of honey and bee pollen lattes! In regards to our executive team, we have launched new projects and expanded old ones. Notably, we began the People of Caffiends and #CaffiendsXClimate series on our social media. We also were so lucky to have had a lot of ‘firsts’ in terms of collaborations this semester. We loved working for the first time with VicXposure on a semester-long ‘Outdoors' exhibit for our space. We had the great opportunity of working with UofT B.E.E.S and were amazed by their honey and knowledge at our second volunteer social. We were also happy to bridge connections across campus to the Engineering Department when we hosted a Learning Session on ‘Tracing Your Coffee from Bean to Cup’ with Engineers Without Borders and their Fair-trade Portfolio. We hope that this quick summary shows our team and our greater community just how much can happen when people come together in love of coffee and tea. Thanks to all of our volunteers, our customers, and our supporters for helping us do the things this semester!

“I usually don’t come in on Mondays, I usually come in on Tuesdays when I volunteer. but today I just had a lot of papers to do so I thought instead of punishing myself by slaving away at Robarts, I would treat myself to a tea and be in a nice environment while working on my papers.” - Chae Rim (left) ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ “We’re high school friends, and we were like, 'Oh my god!' We haven’t seen each other in maybe 3 years. This was the first semester where I’ve had a class at Vic, so I’d sometimes come before or after class to get a drink. I went to the bathroom in the basement, and we just ran into each other by chance.” - Amy(right) #PeopleofCaffiends

As cute, trendy, and environmentally friendly as tote bags are, a study by Environment Agency of the British government has found that the environmental footprint of cloth bags can actually be equivalent to that of plastic bags! ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ The study took into account the entire process of making a cloth bag - from extracting the required materials, to producing the tote bag, to its actual longevity. All things considered, cotton bags must be re-used at least 131 times “before the impact is similar to the lightweight conventional plastic bag." ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ As we strive to be as environmentally conscious as possible, it is important to be aware that the impact and life cycle of these items extend beyond their use. According to the study, the best way to "reducing the impacts [of any type of bag] is to reuse it as many times as possible" (Edwards & Meyhoff Fry, 2011, p. 7). Be sure to keep this in mind when purchasing or using our Caffiends tote bag - or any other tote bag for that matter! ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Find out more here: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/thesundayedition/the-sunday-edition-september-16-2018-1.4822353/think-cloth-bags-are-better-for-the-environment-think-again-1.4822660 ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Study - Life cycle assessment of supermarket carrier bags: a review of the bags available in 2006 (https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/291023/scho0711buan-e-e.pdf) #CaffiendsXClimate

A huge thank you to @ewb_uoft for collaborating with us for one of their learning sessions last Thursday, and shout out to everyone who came through! We had thought-provoking conversations around the production and consumption of direct-trade and fair-trade coffees, conventional coffee, and paper cups.

Happy Wednesday, Caffriends! We hope you all are staying warm and caring for yourselves during this end-of-semester rush ❤️

"I was a volunteer for both semesters last year, and honestly it was just so nice. I’m in the jazz program, and I love everyone there but It’s nice to remember that there’s a UofT outside of jazz, you know? So that definitely helped me build a greater community within the university. I just got an email asking, 'Do you wanna be a mentor?’ and I was like, sure! So it’s been interesting so far. I’ve spilled a drink all over my shift mate on my first mentor shift and it was the most embarrassing thing, but I think I've been getting through it! " - Mira Riselli #peopleofcaffiends

It's getting cold out but it's always nice and cozy at the cafe ❤️

“I really love coming into the cafe in the morning. I have a morning shift, and always had a morning shift, and I love being able to wake myself up with Caffiends. It’s nice getting to talk to people, getting to see people come in, getting snacks and food and coffee . . . sort of just watching people wake up at Vic with Caffiends.” - Benten Tinkler #peopleofcaffiends

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Location & Hours

Old Vic College Rm 111,
91 Charles Street West,
Toronto, ON M5S 1K5

Victoria College, University of Toronto

HOURS
Mon-Fri: 8:30AM-6:30PM
Sat-Sun: Closed

Contact Information

caffiends@gmail.com
Olivier: 613-816-9402
Elaine: 647-978-5620

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