“Green” Your Coffee Station

Our everyday coffee routine is unsustainable. According to The Atlantic, in 2014, the amount of K-cups used would circle the globe 10.5 times. Our consumption of K-Cups is just one example of how our coffee routine is unsustainable. Deforestation occurs to make room for more coffee production, beans are sourced unfairly and sold in single-use packaging, and cups are often brewed in some sort of single-use product. What is one to do?

Here are six tips & tricks to help make your coffee routine more environmentally sustainable.

Tip #1: Buy Sustainable Espresso and Coffee Makers

Although coffee pods are convenient, their single-use packaging creates huge amounts of landfill waste which increases the amount of methane in our environment. Instead of using K-Cup Machines, consider using more traditional coffee brewing methods like french presses, moka pots, chemexs, drip coffee makers, percolators, and espresso machines. If you are going to buy a new machine, consider giving away or selling your old coffee machine instead of landfilling it. Try to reduce your coffee station waste by selecting reusable coffee drippers and filters, and consider making just the right amount of coffee so that no coffee (and coffee grounds) goes to waste.

Coffee Maker Recommendations:

Tip #2: Use Sustainably-Sourced Coffee Beans & Grounds

Your choice of coffee beans and grounds can have a positive impact. Support sustainably-sourced beans that are shade-grown, fair trade, and Rainforest Alliance-certified. Fair trade certified coffee guarantees local farmers a minimum price that helps cover for sustainable products. Rainforest Alliance coffee companies are audited annually with detailed environmental, social, and economic criteria about their coffee production. When buying coffee, aim to buy bulk products to reduce waste and look for coffee packaged in recyclable or biodegradable material. If you prefer tea, opt for loose leaf tea over individual tea bags. Tea also can be fair trade certified, organic, and Rainforest Alliance certified.

Screen Shot 2021-09-30 at 11.13.07 AM.png — Rainforest Alliance Certified Logo

Tip #3: Use Reusable Coffee Pods and Filters

Replace single-use capsules such as the K-Cup with reusable pods. Select reusable pods that do not contain plastic or e-waste components. For traditional brewing methods, use reusable, stainless steel filters instead of single-use coffee filters.

For tea lovers, there are stainless steel tea infusers to steep that hot cup of tea.

Tip #4: BYOM: Bring Your Own Mug

To reduce single-use plastic or paper cups, BYOM--bring your own mug. Create an “Ugly Mug Drive” where folks can donate those unwanted mugs that we all seem to accumulate to your coffee station.

Contribute that unwanted mug to a “Ugly Mug Drive.”

Tip #5: Ditch Single-Use Milk & Sugar Packets and Buy in Bulk

Instead of using single-use milk and sugar packets, purchase “bulk” items to reduce excess packing and save costs. Store milk and sugar in canisters or insulated creamer carafes. Replace single-use stirrers with reusable spoons.

*Replace single-use cream with reusable containers such as these insulated creamer carafes*

Tip #6: Compost Coffee Grounds

Put your coffee grounds to work by composting them at a local farm, community garden, or backyard compost bin. Composted coffee grounds make excellent fertilizer after biodegrading for over 4 months. Landfilled coffee grounds and other food scraps end up contributing to planet warming carbon dioxide emissions.

From using sustainably-sourced coffee grounds to bringing our own reusable mug to work, our coffee routine can easily become more environmentally-friendly. Share this information with colleagues and friends as even minor adjustments to green our coffee habits can create long term benefits for our planet.

Resources