Ripples’ Cookies Profit Update!

The sweet taste of success!

Here’s an update on how Ripples’ Cookies are doing (and what they’re doing for the world!). These seem like small goals in comparison to the thousands of dollars donated by larger businesses, and they pale in comparison to the income generated by most traditionally employed people – I think I can safely say I make less than an employee at a fast food restaurant.

But the comparisons worth making are now vs. the way my life was before Ripples began: zero money to charities, zero income for our sustainable homestead project, zero impact on filling the baked goods market with more organic and fair trade options, and next to no confidence that I could start my own green business and succeed.

Let’s look at some numbers:

$195.00 in Total Sales since October 15th, 2011
$82.41 in Costs for Ingredients (all organic, fair trade)
$19.50 ($20 already donated) raised for the National Wildlife Federation
$93.09 for the Ripples project (that’s about $13 over our goal for a Solar Cooker!)

Nope, I couldn’t support myself on this income alone. Of course, keep in mind that I didn’t start Ripples’ Cookies to pay rent and buy groceries – this income wasn’t meant for that, and will not be used for those purposes in the future. 10% goes to charities, and 90% to the Ripples project.*

*Edit: Ryan re-did my math, and, oops, turns out I’ve actually been giving 20-25% rather than 10%!

I can’t wait to buy our solar cooker next year and measure how much of our monthly meals will be made electricity-free! I’ve been wanting to support my friends in West Virginia and Appalachia fighting mountaintop removal for years, and finally, our first step towards living off-grid is possible!