Eco- cafe’s friendly footprint
THERE’S nothing like a relaxing coffee and a bite to eat after an exercise session, and a shop in Townsville’s West End has masterfully combined the two.
Business partners Su Lora and Paul Day moved to Townsville less than a year ago and opened their respective businesses, Off Your Feet, an eco- conscious cafe, and On Your Feet, a running equipment store.
The Stagpole St shops are gaining attention for their friendly atmosphere, where pets, cyclists, runners, visitors and locals are welcome.
Every Sunday at 6.30am, Mr Day takes a group running up Castle Hill and around many of the lesser- known back pathways.
Meanwhile, Ms Lora coordinates a group of less athletically- minded participants for a walk along some of the other tracks.
“Anyone is welcome to join. With Paul’s running group they cover quite a number of tracks up and around the Hill, but when walking we tend to just do one or two paths,” she said.
“Some locals are surprised to learn about all the different tracks around Castle Hill.”
Ms Lora said she was conscious of minimising the environmental impact of her cafe, which sells an assortment of hot beverages, cakes and other homestyle cooked meals.
Off Your Feet is Townsville’s first cafe that doesn’t have single- use coffee cups. Instead patrons can either bring their own reusable mug or dine in.
The majority of rubbish produced at the cafe is either recycled, composted or fed to the eager shop dog, a nine- year- old chocolate labrador called Sunny.
Ms Lora said business could be up and down.
“But we have many points of difference, such as the ability to host small events and also a large parking area that I think makes this spot appealing.”