By Michelle Crean

The arduous chore of Christmas cake making has been made a whole lot simpler thanks to one local socially conscious business who launched their new idea this week.

Staff at the Going Green Cafe and Refill Store on Beech Road will from today (Friday) sell their brand new Christmas Cake Kits for €30 with money received going to support the work they do.

Each ingredient has been carefully measured in recycled glasswear, the eggs are fresh from KASI’s gardens in Ballycasheen, and not only that, but the kit comes complete with a recipe, all you have to do is bind it with love.

In aiming to generate ongoing income streams to fund their work in the community, KASI, the Killarney Immigrant Support Centre, have established a number of social enterprises including Going Green.

The team are helping to promote integration of migrants into Irish society through training, employment and visibility, with a cafe as well as a zero-waste refill store upstairs.

The refill store is also proving to have a benefit on society and the environment by helping the people of Killarney cut down on packaging and plastic waste, increase the re-use of glass and plastic containers and introducing more eco-conscious habits into their daily lives.

The unique atmosphere at Going Green is quickly garnering a loyal customer base of socially conscious communities supporting this innovative social enterprise business model.

“We are conscious of the need for our collective response to the climate and ecological crisis worldwide, and our social enterprise Going Green is giving the people of Killarney an opportunity to think global but act local in supporting the Christmas Cake Kit," Marilyn Catapat-Counihan, KASI coordinator, said.

"We are so excited to welcome the local community on this journey towards going green and supporting the migrants, refugees and asylum seekers in our locality."

And she added that they have taken the hard work, packaging waste and excess cost out of shopping for our customers and supporters.

"We have sourced the majority of the ingredients for the kit from our refill store, upstairs at Going Green. Why not drop by for a coffee while you pick up your Christmas Cake Kit!"