The Low Down On Green Living
March 10th, 2008
How To Tuesday: Be An Eco-Conscious Coffee Consumer
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Our national addiction to coffee has major impacts on our environment. Over 120 million Americans drink coffee, and the average drinker has 3.1 cups of coffee each day. Over 25% of us drink coffee from stores outside our home– we consume over 15 BILLION cups of coffee at Starbuck’s, Coffee Bean and the like each year. That’s enough paper cups to ring the Earth 55 times! And think of all of the plastic lids, and the water and power consumed to make the coffee we enjoy.
We also have to consider the environmental impacts of the production of coffee. The main negative impacts of cultivating coffee come from converting natural forest into coffee farms, soil degradation, pesticide use, and water-quality damage. Coffee production in Latin America, Asia and Africa is a leading contributor to deforestation: of the 50 countries in the world with the highest deforestation rates from 1990 to 1995, 37 were coffee producers. Read this excellent article from the World Wildlife Fund to learn more about these impacts.
But don’t cry into your coffee cup quite yet– there are many easy ways that you can become an eco-conscious coffee consumer. Read on and get out the cream and sugar!
1. Bring your own reusable coffee mug to work and to the coffee shop. This is really a no-brainer. You save paper, plastic and you have toasty java wherever you go.
2. Get a reusable coffee filter for your coffee pot — you won’t have to use disposable paper filters anymore. And you can get a french press. This nifty coffee maker requires no electricity, and coffee snobs love them. You’ll be tres chic and eco-smart!
3. Did you know that coffee grounds make a great input for your composter? Or you can just put them directly onto the soil around your plants. We like to call it “mocha mulch.”
4. Ride your bike or walk to the coffee shop– you’ll have earned yourself a biscotti!
5. If you’re at the coffee shop and you’ve forgotten your reusable mug, perhaps you can refuse the plastic lid. Do you reall need it? And if the server tries to get you to replace your paper cup when you get a refill, try saying, “No thanks– I’ll reuse the first one.”
6. Buy certified organic, fair-trade, shade-grown coffee whenever you can. Buy organic because it’s better for the land where it’s grown, the people who farm it and you as the consumer. Fair trade is important because you want to support respectable wages for farmers in developing countries. And shade-grown coffee requires fewer pesticides and also supports bio-diversity. To learn more about these issues, click here. Also learn about the Rainforest Alliance certification program, which will help you identify coffees that are environmentally sustainable.
Do you have any thoughts on how to be an eco-smart coffee consumer? We’d love to hear them. Please write a comment!
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Comments
victoria
March 11th, 2008 at 12:47 pm
I’d like to know if the wild coffee plants that grow in Florida can be used to make coffee. The ‘beans’ are only about half the size of a regular coffee bean and I know they are not consumable right off the plant. If they were roasted, would they make good coffee?
Can anyone answer this question?
Cheryl
March 11th, 2008 at 2:06 pm
I just love using a french press. It makes terrific coffee, it’s fast and it’s great that it uses no electricity. I think the coffee is just as good as from a coffee house - maybe better.
mcark
March 11th, 2008 at 4:42 pm
I’m not a coffee drinker but I would like to comment on consumer shopping. I’m an eco addict and I have to fight the urge to buy reusable bags ( I have 20 of them) when I go into wal-mart. I use the bags for groceries, school bags, vacation packing, gift bags, etc but I recently watched a documentary on Chinese factories and they were making a similar bag. The conditions were deplorable and I have stopped buying so many bags, especially the ones made in China. Another consumer concern ( and this might be in the archives) is chocolate consumption, because some chocolate actually funds modern day slavery.
Brad Severance
March 11th, 2008 at 6:18 pm
Another idea is to buy a coffee maker that has a thermal carafe or mug, instead of a heating element that keeps a carafe warm . . . to save electricity.
Kristen
March 11th, 2008 at 6:48 pm
I admit to being a bit confused about the french press recommendation. You still have to use some source of energy to heat the water before you pour it into the french press - presumably either your microwave or stovetop. How much of a difference is there in the energy consumption by the coffee pot?
Jessica Jensen
March 11th, 2008 at 8:19 pm
Victoria, I don’t know the answer re the Florida coffee beans, but I say what the heck– go ahead and roast some and see how it goes! Let us know if they taste good. Maybe we can start exporting coffee from Florida.
Kristen in response to your good question re the french press: typical coffee makers use electricity and also stay on for a long time with a warmer plate. Boiling water in your mircrowave (best from an energy-efficiency perspective) or on your gas stove (2nd best) is better than using an electric coffee maker (3rd best).
Brad love your idea about a thermal carafe vs. warmer. Good point!
jai
March 12th, 2008 at 9:24 am
To mcark,
You should watch the documentary by Robert Greenwald “Walmart : The High Cost Of Low Price”. You probably will not want to be shopping at Walmart after you see it.
Julie
July 13th, 2008 at 4:46 pm
I’m an ecologist, and have a web site devoted to sustainable coffee. I have a handy guide to the Top 5 Indicators of Sustainable Coffee:
http://www.coffeehabitat.com/2007/05/top_5.html
Hopefully, your readers can learn a lot more about eco-friendly coffee!
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