Pulse Profile: Kathy Navis

Kathy Navis

Kathy Navis is beginning her third year operating Greens ‘n Grains, an organic foods and grocery store in Egg Harbor. She said the venture was a natural fit when her last tenant (she owns the building, which dates to around the 1870s) closed up shop.

“It’s the way I live my life,” she says. “In some ways it’s very self-serving. If I were to ask someone to open my ideal store up here, this is what I’d ask them to open.”

Navis recently earned Travel Green Wisconsin certification for the store, garnering 57 points (30 are needed to be certified).

“It took me a whole year to finish the application,” she says. “It absolutely makes you think about everything you do.”

Home: “I’ve stopped using a clothes dryer, instead using a clothesline.” Navis has a solar hot water heater.

Eating: “I try to eat only organic foods, definitely not processed, and local. I have a huge garden at home.”

Getting There: Navis drives a Toyota Scion (36 mpg) to her store from her home in Jacksonport. “I’d like to bike more, but I carry two dogs and a ton of produce. I’ve thought about getting a little buggy I could pull.”

Cause: Besides pushing local and organic foods, Navis preaches the virtue of yoga. She opened Junction Center Yoga in 2001 out of her home in Jacksonport. “Yoga teaches people to think in different ways, to deal with people better, and to consume less.”

In the yard: At home her garden dominates her property and she cuts only a few small paths. “Mowing grass is just about the biggest waste, not only in gas and pollution, but of time.”

Pet Peeve: “I can’t stand it when people want a bag for just one thing. It’s in a box, and there’s a bag inside the box, isn’t that enough?”

Striving to improve: “Taking shorter showers. That’s a place I could probably do better. I love hot showers.”