Coffee Cup

How eco friendly is your coffeeWe all enjoy a cup of coffee for some its essential part of the day however each small cup of coffee has a mighty big carbon footprint. The coffee bean has traditionally been grown in a natural environment however intensive farming to keep up with insatiable demand for coffee often results in forest clearing, this together with a heavy use of pesticides and agrochemicals does little to enhance the eco credentials of coffee. The carbon footprint of the coffee bean continues to grow as it goes through the production process, before being packaged and transported to our supermarkets. It is in our homes when we boil the kettle that the carbon footprint of coffee grows significantly as kettles are one of the most energy intensive appliances in the home (we can help to limit this by only putting as much water in the kettle as we need).

Over the last few years the issue of forest clearing has become a major political issue as governments look at ways to slow climate change, given that coffee after oil is the second largest traded commodity on the planet it follows that coffee producers have looked into ways of producing more environmental friendly coffee. You can help to limit the negative environmental impact of coffee by reading the labels before you buy and opting for a eco friendly brand. In the past concerns have been raised about the quality of the eco coffees however growth in this area of production is such that quality is no longer an issue.

The best coffee you can buy for the environment is organic, this is coffee that has been grown in the shade so that trees do not have to be cut down, no pesticides are used in the farming and the coffee is left to grow naturally producing a richer better quality bean. The environment, wildlife and your taste buds all benefit from organic coffee. Alternatively to organic you can buy coffee certified by the Rainforest Alliance, this is grown to strict guidelines to minimize environmental damage to the rain forest. Quite often eco coffee is also Fair Trade which aims to support the people who grow the coffee by insuring they receive fair payment.