After oil, coffee is the most highly traded substance in the world. The worldwide demand for coffee stretches from coffee houses in New York, to cafe’s in Italy, to street stalls in Vietnam.
Undoubtedly, this coffee consumption takes a heavy toll on the environment. Most of us do not consider the deforestation caused by commercial coffee farming, the huge amount of water consumption, and the mountains of paper products (filters, cups, etc.) we create as a by-product of our coffee habit.
If you want to drink coffee (relatively) guilt free, below are some ways to make your coffee habit less harmful to the environment:
Buy A Cool Mug – Purchase a really cool mug that you will want to again and again; eliminating the need for plastic or styrofoam cups.
Do Without A Coffee Stirrer – Rather than mixing cream and sugar into your coffee, try adding it in the empty cup. Then gently pour your hot coffee on top, letting the heat naturally dissolve the sugar.
Compost Your Coffee Grounds – Instead of throwing out your old coffee grounds, create a compost heap and toss your used coffee grounds in. The nitrogen rich coffee will produce a potent fertilizer. Alternatively, you can spread it on top of your plant’s soil.
Purchase Organic Coffee – Organic coffee is grown without toxic chemicals, and is grown in such a way that protects sensitive ecosystems and the animals that live within them.
Opt For Fair Trade Coffee – Rainforest Alliance and Transfair coffees not only ensure fair living wages for coffee farmers, they consider environmental standards in their certification process.
Choose A Good Coffee Filter – To reduce unnecessary paper consumption, buy a reusable gold coffee filter; not only will it help the environment, it improves the taste of your coffee. If you do use filters, look for unbleached, biodegradable ones.
Keep Unwanted Away – Rather than using chemicals in your garden to keep away unwanted pests like ants and neighborhood cats, sprinkle coffee grounds and orange peels in your garden. The nitrogen in coffee burns ants’ legs and is much better than using harmful chemicals.
Avoid Corporate Coffee – Corporate coffee brands like Nestle and Kraft mass produce coffee, and do not think twice about cutting down trees to create large coffee plantations.
Consume Less Coffee – It takes 200 liters of water to produce the coffee, milk, sugar, and cup for one regular latte. So, Cutting out just one cup of coffee a day would do wonders for the environment.
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TheCoffeeMakerStore.com is a daily blog and e-commerce store about coffee, coffee makers, and coffee culture. Download our free eco-friendly coffee tips widget that displays ways to make your coffee habit more gentle on the environment.
Tags: beverages, Coffee, drinks, environment, food