b'ENVIRONMENTSPIRIT BEAR COFFEE COMPANYshort time. To know that started from justIN MEMORY OF PAUL BIGLINone persons dream, thats amazing to me, she says.Aboriginal Business Report regrets to inform our SPIRIT BEAR COFFEE COMPANY readers of the passing of Paul Biglin, co-founder and co-president of Spirit Bear Coffee Company. At Spirit Bear Coffee Company in PortPauls extraordinary vision helped build the Coquitlam, B.C., sustainability is inte- company into a successful business and one that grated into many aspects of the business.respects the spirit and teachings of his commu-Operating since 2006, Spirit Bear sellsnity. His compassion and generosity made a posi-premium certified organic and fair-tradetive impact on the communities he served and certified coffees that celebrate the unique- on Mother Earth. Paul believed we should leave ness of Indigenous cultures. the world better off than when we arrived, and Spirit Bear Coffee Company gives regularly to The company was Canadas first nationalenvironmental organizations, including Oceans Indigenous-owned coffee supplier and itAlliance and Northern Lights Wildlife Society. The currently serves over 550 locations acrossbusiness will continue on in this spirit in Pauls the country. To keep operations as sustain- memory, thanks to his extraordinary guidance able as possible, it has implementedand leadership.multiple initiatives. This includes offering fully compostable and recyclable coffee pods. Our company is just a little company, but it does represent a big volume, says Sean Harding, Spirit Bear Coffee Companys president. Engineering Spirit Bear Coffee is also in the process ofcustom solutionseliminating single-use plastics. [We] try toworthy of lifelong use recycled products as much as possible. We use craft boxes, craft bags and ourrelationshipscompostable pods, Harding says, adding that the company has also been replacing its fleet with electric-powered vehicles. One third of our fleet is electric now.Harding says that First Nations have always taught and incorporated sustainable prac-tices into their harvesting, hunting and fishing practices throughout history: Chiefs always pass down the information that weBunibonibee Cree Nation need to be sustainableto be able to comeLandfill Expansionback and harvest again for the survival of the Nation.Aboriginal BUSINESS REPORT 37'