How to Lower Coffee’s Carbon Footprint

Step 1 … Learn About Coffees Carbon Footprint

The first step is to sign up to Zero Footprint Coffee and learn more. If you don’t drink coffee you can still learn a great deal about how our global products impact people and the environment.

We recognize that signing up emits approximately 15g of CO2e. This is the kind of accounting that we do as an organization and do not sweep under the carpet. So we are pledging to offset every subscriber to our list with 15g of carbon offsets from the Cafe Solar® coffee program. These are your first credits and the start of a coffee conversation. Signing up will keep you posted and in turn is an important act that we will use to show support to stakeholders in the supply chain, especially the small coffee farmers. This adds more renewable energy and we promise that your personal information will not be shared or sold.

Step 2 … Order Zero Footprint Coffee

If you are a coffee drinker, the next step is to order Zero Footprint Coffee and enjoy … Plus, you really should buy it for someone else with a coffee addiction. You will be helping the planet with hot coffee and this is cool. Refer Zero Footprint Coffee to your friends and we will add some carbon to you account. However, James the programmer has not figured this out just yet!

Step 3 … Learn More About Coffee, CO2e … and other things … (while drinking zero coffee)

Coffee and Coffee Certification

Less is more when you drink better coffee. Organically grown coffee has a higher cost and lower footprint. Less toxins in nature is better for soils and for the trees to retain carbon. Other certifications can add additional layers of oversight including Fair Trade, Bird-friendly, Rainforest Alliance etc. Expensive super premiums, like Jamaican Blue Mountain, Kona, Yemen and some direct trade micro lots from proven smallholder farms with forest-friendly practices can also have a lower footprint. More information on coffee will be added at a later date.

Coffee Packaging

Choosing lower footprint coffee packaging that can be 100% recycled is important. Coffee packaging has added huge volumes to landfills and much of it is plastic and foil laminates, which cannot be recycled. This form of pretty but tough packaging is estimated to last more than a thousand years in landfills. These are wasted fossil fuel products and are a major part of coffee’s footprint. The only form of packaging used for Zero Footprint Coffees are 100% fully recyclable. Additionally, it is widely reported that toxins found in the majority of food packaging can leach into product. This is not regulated by Health Canada or the FDA. We love coffee and know that these forms are simply not required and are an added cost to the consumer and footprint. We pay more for the quality beans and less on industry packaging that does not guarantee quality. Avoid anything single-use (especially if it’s not recyclable or made from recycled material). Includes pods, chlorine bleached paper filters, additives, etc.

Special Coffee Features

There are many great coffees produced by dedicated growers and roasters. When sourcing beans, look for off-grid processing which can include natural and sun-dried coffees. Look for lower footprint roasting operations and sustainability claims in corporate communications from suppliers.

Community Stuff

Write letters to? Chain yourself to? Do what you want to do to get to zero.

Other Stuff

· Read the product labels. Where our products come from says a lot about the footprint. Think about what fuel sources were used to produce the product or the service.

· Vote with your dollars and support better company products and services.

· Vote for governments that have carbon reduction on their short and long term agendas.

· Invest your green in green businesses. New investment laws, greater consumer awareness and the internet make this an exciting time to challenge the status quo.

· Act on your inner rebel, resist inaction and do more zero.