Comments on: Green Your Coffee – An Environmental Tip from a Latte Drinker

By: Nicholas

Nicholas — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 18:52:25 +0000

Oooogh, I hadn’t even thought about the roasting process! But you’re right, the manufacturing process likely needs to be put under the environmental microscope as well. That might be a subject for another post….

And as for charging people a bit extra for a cup – well I think it’s a great idea! After all, it’s worked in other countries dealing with excessive plastic bags.

By: muddydogcoffee

muddydogcoffee — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 03:53:50 +0000

Great post. But there’s another aspect of coffee environmentalism largely overlooked – roaster pollution and energy consumption. A standard roaster without afterburner belches smoke into the air like a diesel truck. With afterburner, a midsize shop roaster consumes about one million BTU. We have installed what is quite possibly the world’s most eco-friendly roaster that outputs virtually no emissions and consumes about 5% of the power of a conventional roaster. Coffee packaging is another problem – we have addressed it by using biodegradable and compostable packaging – why is this not common? Think about it next time you buy coffee!

By: nykoelle

nykoelle — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 00:44:56 +0000

though I would take a papercup over a dunkin donuts styrofoam cup anytime, I agree in your point entirely. The issue with all these issues is laziness, some people are simply too lazy to bring a bag, or a cup for that matter. Best idea in my opinion? Start charging extra for a cup That’ll change minds quick heh.

By: Nicholas

Nicholas — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 23:53:26 +0000

Thanks for checking my blog out!

I wholeheartedly agree – paper cups shouldn’t be meant for coffee! And as adults, we should realize that using disposable cups incurs some negative consequences, both on the environment and on others. The real point of this post was bring the environmental implications of disposable cups to light. Drinking your java from a reusable cup is a proactive issue any individual can do without the help of any sort of organization. And of course, no certification is needed to use your own cup.

By: nonsense

nonsense — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 23:47:05 +0000

First of all, paper cups were designed for the birthday parties of 4-year-olds, not freaking adults who can actually afford to drop more than 20 cents at a lemonade stand for something that tastes less like the paper container it comes in. Independent of any of your environmental concerns.

But Fair Trade as an “environmentally sound” choice? Dream on! Every label you encounter doesn’t mean homey goodness for the earth. Life is a lot more complicated than that. It’s as if someone could come up with “monkey &%#” certification and every chump with a green or socially conscious thumb can go on blissfully believing that they’s saving the environment, paying the poor fairly, stopping global warming, and helping monkey populations.

Never make a label out to more than what it is. There’s fine print in every one about what they do and don’t do.