Greatest Person: Amy Edelman is a Small Business Owner, Activist and New Mom

If you live in Chestnut Hill and haven’t met Amy Edelman, you’re probably in the minority. A prominent face around town and at her popular bakery and cafe, , Edelman has taken on the role of eco-activist as the co-founder of the nonprofit Green in Chestnut Hill (GRinCH).

It all began when she was seeking . Edelman found out that restaurants are one of the biggest energy users among businesses.

“We started to put together demonstrations on environmental concerns, things like composting and water usage and the recent energy caps. We made them open to the whole community and got a great response from business owners and residents,” Edelman said.

Since then, GRinCH has taken off, organizing recycling events, advocating environmentally friendly practices in the community, and most recently, spearheading the effort to get .

“We didn’t realize the task would be so big. It took us about a year and a half, but we hit the streets, worked with the residents and business people. It took getting the community’s support, because there was a small but powerful opposition,” Edelman said.

Now, 14 of the environmental-friendly compactors and recycling bins line Germantown Avenue’s business district.

Just as Edelman was adjusting to wearing the hats of a business owner and a founder of a nonprofit organization, she added a third hat. Edelman adopted a daughter from Guatamala nine months ago.

“We got a call on Christmas Eve, saying, 'If you want to adopt a baby from Guatamala, you have to be on a plane in seven hours.' At first we thought, 'We can’t do this, we have the bakery and it’s Christmas,' but we talked about it, and seven hours later, we were on our way to meet our daughter,” Edelman said.

It took three years after that Christmas to bring her daughter, Izabella, home. But patience is one of Edelman’s strong points.

“It’s all together now. We’re very happy. She is absolutely out first priority,” Edelman said. Then she added, “The bakery and GRinCH are a very, very close second.”