Going Green Via Your Coffee

I recycle my newspapers, I own energy efficient appliances and everything like that, but there’s another area where I can be more green – my coffee.

Start Your Day With Coffee Beans That Are Earth Friendly
The way coffee is grown can be really harmful to the environment, but there’s certified safe coffee that you can buy. Actually, there’s a lot of different certifications, so it’s a good idea to do your research before you buy any, because some are better than others. A couple of the good ones are Certified Organic and Certified Fair Trade Coffee.

Brew Your Coffee At Home
Not only is it cheaper, but it also helps the earth because you’re not using a paper or an evil Styrofoam cup. Millions of these single use cups and their lids are filling up landfills everywhere.

Buy Your Coffee At A Coffee Shop
Some environmentally conscious coffee shops let you bring in your own coffee cup and will even give you a discount. Starbucks is one of those shops, every time you use your own cup there, they’ll knock off ten cents off of your total. I know that’s not a lot of money, but that isn’t the real reason to use your own cup there.

Pick The Right Coffee Filter
A coffee filter can affect the taste of your coffee, but it can also affect the environment. Filters made out of recycled materials or unbleached filters are better for the earth. There’s also stainless steel filters, some people say that these have negative affects on the taste, but they don’t require cutting down a tree either.

Create A Caffeinated Garden
After your done with your ground coffee, put them out in the garden or in a compost heap, instead of duping them in the trash. It may not actually make your vegetables caffeinated, but it’s better than filling up a landfill with unnecessary trash.

Buy A Water Filter
One of the keys to an excellent tasting cup of coffee is the water that you use to make it. If you have horrible tasting water like me, buy a filter for your water faucet. It’s a lot more of a green solution than using bottle water.

Have Kids?
Use your old coffee grounds to create fossils. It’s a cool classroom project or just something for kids to do when they’re bored around the house. Here’s a link for more details.

Also, Check out the Coffee Break blog for more Earth Day ideas.

Do you have any more ideas? Share them with the group. Leave a comment below.

Photo By A Chilling Soul

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Tagged as: Coffee, Earth Day, Green