Earth day is April 22 and Phoenix Coffee has unveiled a new sustainability initiative. The popular locally owned coffee shop with five locations, two of them in Cleveland Heights, is encouraging its customers to use reusable beverage containers. “It doesn’t matter if it’s one of our mugs or a mug of your own,” said Marcie Phillips, manager at the Coventry location, “the idea is to try and create a sustainable coffee community in Cleveland and reduce our dependence on disposable cups.”

Every generation in human history has faced seemingly greater and more difficult challenges than any previous. We have all heard of the difficult times during the Great Depression. We know about the ‘Greatest Generation’ that responded to the 1941 Pearl Harbor attack. Within months, Detroit’s auto industry was transformed into a war-fighting industry producing military vehicles and equipment to face the Axis Powers.