December’s Watershed Profile features Inspired Madness! Inspired Madness, Inc., is the team behind Feed Café, Daily Coffee and Eatery, and Steep Mountain Tea. In addition to providing quality food and beverages to the great folks in the Gallatin Valley, the triad is a Business Steward for the Gallatin Watershed Council (GWC)!

GWC wanted to recognize Inspired Madness for their stewardship, so we asked about their sustainable practices and community involvement– and we were, well, inspired! Continue reading to hear from Inspired Madness about how the organization supports the Lower Gallatin Watershed.

Since our inception we have been committed to waste reduction, composting, recycling, saving energy and sourcing products from local farmers and ranchers. We believe in caring for our community and the environment.

What does this look like?

Reducing Waste

Every location we operate currently composts with Happy Trash Can composting services.
Each location uses commercially compostable to-go wares (cups, utensils, lids, boxes). We were one of the first food and beverage establishments to switch to compostable to go wares in the Gallatin Valley.
We recycle plastic, aluminum, cardboard, paper and fryer oil.
With the recent launch of our eCommerce side of Steep Mountain Tea, we have started to roll out branded compostable bags for loose leaf tea that we ship nationwide. We also are committed to using paper-based and compostable packaging and shipping materials to keep as much plastic out of our environment and landfills.
Our packaged foods are donated to the food bank as opposed to becoming waste.
Water wise - 2 of our locations have low flow aerators on our kitchen sinks and have high-efficiency pre-rinse sprayers to reduce water waste.
We use energy star rated refrigeration appliances and lighting.

Sustainable Food

We source as much food as possible from vendors locally, regionally and within a 400 mile radius. We have direct relationships with many local farmers and meat producers.
We offer vegan/vegetarian options at all our locations that require significantly less energy and water to produce than meat/animal based products.
At Feed Cafe we partner with Crazyhead Produce, a local hydroponic farm near Clyde Park, for our salad greens. This type of farming uses 99% less water than traditional farming techniques and ensures we can have local greens year round even in the harsh winter months.
Many of our coffees and teas are organic and most of our coffees are roasted down the street from our locations. Studio is used for Daily and Rockford for Feed Cafe.

Donating to nonprofits – Inspired Madness believes strongly in the spirit of community and is dedicated to giving back. We want to give back to some of the organizations that make our town such a wonderful place to live, recreate and work. The goal of our giving programs is to support non-profit groups who are providing valuable services for our community. In general we focus on supporting non-profits that are working on helping/improving the environment, cultural arts and groups with socio-economic challenges. Here is a list of nonprofits each location has donated to and/or partners with: