Coffee : What You Can Do To Lessen Its Impact On The Environment

Written by bmlengel on March 12th, 2010

If you want to continue drinking coffee (relatively) guilt free, here are some ways to make your coffee habit more environmentally friendly:

Drink Local - Buy coffee which has traveled the shortest distance to reach you so as help lower the impact of shipping on the environment.

Buy A Cool Mug - Purchase a cool mug that you will want to use over and over again; eliminating the need for plastic or styrofoam cups.

Do Without A Coffee Stirrer - Rather than mixing sugar and cream into your coffee, try adding the sugar and cream in the empty cup. Then slowly pour your hot coffee on top, and let the heat naturally dissolve the sugar.

Compost The 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 make a potent fertilizer. Alternatively, you can spread it on top of your plant’s soil.

Buy Organic Coffee - Organic coffee is grown without toxic chemicals, and is grown in a way that protects delicate ecosystems and the birds that inhabit them.

Buy Fair Trade Coffee - Rainforest Alliance and Transfair coffees not only guarantee fair living wages for farmers, they take into account environmental standards in their certification process.

Choose A Good Coffee Filter - To reduce unnecessary paper consumption, consider buying 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.

Boycott Corporate Coffee - Corporate coffee brands such as Nestle and Kraft mass produce coffee, and do not think twice about cutting trees down to create large coffee plantations.

Drink Less Coffee - It takes around 200 liters of water to produce the coffee, milk, sugar, and cup for one regular cup of coffee. Therefore, Just cutting one cup of coffee per day would really help 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.

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