September 29th marks International Coffee Day. Perk up with your own fun sustainable coffee cup and don’t pile on to the 2.7 million non-biodegradable coffee cups, lids and pods that end up in landfill every day. (Earth to Starbucks: They’re plastic-lined and largely non-recyclable.)
Here are our best-selling, planet friendly reusable coffee cups we think you’ll love a latte!
For Unique Form & Function:
For Fun with Bamboo Fibre:
For Stainless Steel & Sturdy Coffee Mugs:
For Beautiful Bamboo Design Appeal in Insulated Coffee Mugs:
Let’s make that black coffee a little more green with this sustainable coffee guide for all you eco-friendly coffee drinkers:
- Buy Organic and Sustainably-Made: Go for less chemicals and more planet-friendly production with certifications like USDA Organic and Rainforest Alliance/UTZ.
- Buy Fair Trade: The coffee bean industry is one of the largest sites of forced labor around the world. Look for Fair Trade certifications to ensure growers are supported, not exploited. Start with this list.
- Cut Back on Packaging: Buy coffee in bulk, BYO containers and choose paper bags or recyclable aluminum containers versus the common lined bags that are extremely hard to recycle.
- Choose Quality Coffee Makers: A fully-automatic espresso machine and a traditional ‘auto-drip’ coffee maker are your best option, because these machines make fresh coffee with beans or ground coffee, and never use plastic or aluminum capsules.
- If You Have to Use Pods: Use a reusable pod and/or go with a brand that has a dedicated recycling program, like Nespresso.
- Consider Non-Dairy Milks: Our research shows soy and oak milk are the resource-saving front runners. While each has it’s own trade-offs, producing a glass of dairy milk results in almost three times more greenhouse gas emissions than any plant-based milk and it consumes nine times more land than any of the milk alternatives.
- Pare Down the Pieces: Skip the single-use stirrers and lids plugs; use reusable metal or 100% biodegradable paper filters; store sugars and powders in larger dispensers.
- Compost Your Coffee Grinds: These can be added to any home compost and saved from the 6 million tons going to landfill each year.
- Do Your Research: Support the local coffee shops and brands making concrete, transparent efforts. Ask about bean sourcing, recycling efforts, give-back programs, environmental offset efforts, etc. See who’s part of the Sustainable Coffee Challenge, a major new global sustainability initiative across the industry.
- BYO Coffee Cup: Don’t be part of the billions of paper cups disposed each year and work towards this simplest step of carrying (and keeping for the long-term!) your own quality reusable.
Sources:
- https://www.thegoodtrade.com/features/fair-trade-coffee-brands
- https://groundsforchange.com/blogs/learn/fair-trade-coffee
- https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jan/28/what-plant-milk-should-i-drink-almond-killing-bees-aoe
- https://www.wellandgood.com/best-milk-for-the-environment/
- https://www.recycling.com/sustainable-coffee-guide/
- https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2019/02/business/starbucks-cup-problem/index.html
- https://www.theguardian.com/food/2019/nov/14/carbon-cafe-what-is-the-most-sustainable-coffee-order
- https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2019/07/partner-content-growing-a-sustainable-coffee-future/