New life is brewing on Laporte Avenue. 

The Fox Den: No Waste Cafe & Roastery opened earlier this month at 1680 Laporte Ave., bringing a growing movement and jars — lots and lots of jars — with it. 

Devoted to reducing as much waste as possible, the cafe serves its coffee, tea, beer, wine and other beverages exclusively out of reusable glass jars or mugs, The Fox Den founder Patricia Acheson explained Tuesday. 

Customers who come in to enjoy a drink at the cafe can select from a wall of mugs. Those who want to take a tea, coffee or latte to go can either bring their own jar or travel mug or pay a deposit for one of the shop's to-go jars — deposits are $1 for cold drink jars and $1.50 for hot drink jars that are fitted with a fabric sleeve.

All jars are sanitized before being used. The cafe's to-go jar deposits are also refundable when customers bring them back, Acheson said.

A coffee bean refill station at the back of the cafe is stocked with freshly-roasted beans and stacks of jars for those who haven't brought their own. 

Acheson provides her food and tea vendors with glass jars and reusable containers for their deliveries to The Fox Den. To-go pastries and the shop's panini-pressed peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are served in paper sleeves instead of plastic, and all of the shop's furniture and decor is reclaimed — "nothing was bought new," Acheson said. 

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The shop also plans to open a mini refill bar operated by Fort Collins' hygge HABIT Refill Bar, which allows people to refill reusable containers with things like soap, shampoo, lotion and laundry powder — an item 1680 Laporte Ave. is no stranger to. 

For years, the squat brick building was home to the Micromat Laundromat, which permanently closed and vacated its space roughly four months before Acheson spotted the empty storefront and its "for lease" sign on a bike ride last year.

Peering through its front windows, Acheson said the building's interior was in rough shape, but she saw its potential. The Indianapolis native, who moved from California to Fort Collins with her fiancé last summer, had wanted to open a coffee shop like The Fox Den for years. 

She had previously opened a coffee roastery and wholesale business in San Francisco and, later, a grab-and-go cafe in San Pedro, California. 

"But I’ve always wanted to actually have a shop where people can come and sit and work, hang out," she said. 

After first looking for a space in Old Town, Acheson started turning her attention to other pockets of Fort Collins. She was on the lookout for a space that would feel more like a neighborhood cafe when she came across 1680 Laporte Ave.

"I wanted people to feel like they were walking into my own living room," Acheson said of her dream coffee shop, adding that she ultimately leased the former Micromat and got to work transforming it in December.

In recent years, a nearby Laporte Avenue parcel that once housed the Friendly Fire fireplace business was transformed into popular west Fort Collins brewery Stodgy Brewing. Last fall, Brothers BBQ opened its first Fort Collins location out of a former gas station at the intersection of Taft Hill Road and Mulberry Street.

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The Fox Den softly opened on March 18, offering no-waste coffee, tea, beer and wine in a cozy, white-walled space dotted with colorful rugs, furniture and wood accents. 

So far, Acheson said the response to her cafe has been "amazing." 

"I have to give a lot of credit to this neighborhood," she said. "It feels like a Hallmark movie. Everyone is so nice and supportive over here." 

Acheson said she hopes The Fox Den not only continues to carve out its space in the neighborhood, but also in the no-waste movement. 

"The main goal is ... showing (other businesses) that you can be successful by reducing your waste," she said. "I'm not trying to be the only place that does this. It would be awesome to get a trend going." 

The Fox Den: No Waste Cafe & Roastery is open daily from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

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Erin Udell reports on news, culture, history and more for the Coloradoan. Contact her at ErinUdell@coloradoan.com. The only way she can keep doing what she does is with your support. If you subscribe, thank you. If not, sign up for a digital subscription to the Coloradoan today.