The awakening of Hungary's first "socially conscious" English-language bookstore/café

While nowadays even many multinational oil companies call themselves "environmentally-friendly" and "socially-conscious," few businesses in Hungary draw attention to their green or activist credentials. Fewer still can make the claim without a nod or wink. Treehugger Dan's Bookstore and Café, which opened last week on District VI's Csengery utca, is one.

The intimate shop and café is the brainchild of Massachusetts native Daniel Swartz (left). A member of the first wave of western residents in Hungary after the changes - he will celebrate his 15th "anniversary" this August - Swartz was "hugging trees" in and around Budapest when most expats were still drunkenly figuring out how to hug Hungarians. An environmental activist "by trade," he has worked in some capacity with most like-minded Hungarian non-governmental groups. "I work with everyone," he says, adding that his main focuses are refuse incinerators and genetically-modified crops.

Unlike many professional activists, however, Swartz had long harbored a desire to go into business. "I've always wanted a used bookstore," he says. But, of course, not just a used bookstore. Unlike his competitors (chiefly the Red Bus Second-hand English Bookstore on District V's Semmelweis utca) Treehugger Dan's will also be a café - Hungary's first organic and "fair-trade" café. (The small coffee bar/gallery is not yet complete, as the local municipality is being slow on providing the necessary permits.)

While deeply committed to the concept of "fair trade" - in which sellers of coffee and other goods in the developing world are paid a "fair" price for their products - Swartz is equally determined to avoid the sorts of eye-popping prices being brewed up in local boutique cafés. "I want to prove to people that just because you have this added value, it doesn't have to mean higher prices," he says. "There is no reason to gouge." In addition to fair-trade, organic coffee, the café will offer organic milk and teas, and presumably other green and socially friendly treats, and feature large-format photographs by local pro shutterbugs, including Richard Adkin. Swartz also expects it to serve as a drop-in center for local activists.

While the location isn't likely to lead to much tourist foot-traffic, Swartz says he wanted something close to the youth hostels and embassies that dot the streets leading to the City Park. Meanwhile, thanks to the booming Pest outlet of gourmet food emporium Culinaris, this stretch of Csengery utca is itself beginning to take on a distinctly international flavor.

As for the main event - the books - the selection already includes a healthy 4,000 or so titles, and is expected to grow as local bookworms take advantage of what Swartz promises to be a "fair" trade-in policy. And speaking of fair, even though the shelves are heavy with books on activism, gender studies and gay and lesbian fiction (the latter selection is clearly the best in town) there are also enough travel guides and spy thrillers to satisfy someone who thinks that the only good tree is one that has been chopped down and hauled off to the paper plant.

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