Simple Ways To Green Your Coffee & Tea
Besides leaving it out over the weekend and having an irritating layer of green fuzz growing on it, I mean.
There are lots of small things we do everyday without thinking about them. Over a period of years we develop habits, things we do over and over with very little thought. Not necessarily because they are better, smarter, or easier but just because that is the way we have always done them.
Even our coffee habits. Since so often it is the little things we do that make big differences, here are some ways to green up your coffee.
1. Use your own travel mug at your local coffee shop. Starbucks usually will even give you a percentage discount if you bring your own mug. This means that all of those millions of throw away cups don’t end up in landfills or that nasty little continent of floating garbage in the Pacific.
2. Use permanent coffee filters. They are made, usually, from gold or gold plated stainless steel, and are made to last a long time. The flavor is enhanced by the use of the filter. Paper filters absorb some of the coffee flavor as they filter and cause the coffee to taste dull and lose some of it’s complexity.
3. Use loose leaf tea in a tea infuser or use a tea strainer rather than the tea bags.
4. Unplug your coffee maker as soon as it is done brewing. The clock and other aspects of the coffee maker make it use little bits of electricity all the time and that adds up. Use a thermal carafe to keep your coffee warm.
5. Use Fair trade and shade grown products when possible.
6. There is a small group of farmers from Uganda that have banded together to create a cooperative called Mirembe Kawomera, Delicious Peace. A delicious peace it is because the unique thing about these farmers is that they are Muslim, Christian, and Jewish. This is being distributed in the United States by Thanksgiving Coffee Company. As a Christian, who has been involved quite a bit with both the Muslim and Jewish cultures and beliefs I find this amazing and encouraging. It just shows you that coffee really IS a panacea for everything.
7. Buy local if you can. If you buy straight from the roaster your are often getting better, fresher coffee at a lower price and it is only being shipped once or twice as opposed to numerous times. I would not trade our coffee for anything! See the shininess of the beans in the picture? Those are fresh from my roaster, and contain all the oils needed for a awesome cup of coffee.
8. Clean you coffee pot or tea kettle with white vinegar instead of harsh chemicals
9. Give green. Get your peeps hooked on fair trade, organic and shade grown coffees and teas (they really do taste better) by giving them as gifts.
10. Educate yourself. I have talked to so many people about issues I am concerned about only to have them stop me and say they just don’t want to think about it. As we make consumer choices based on documented facts we are at least controlling our consumerism. I do not always buy fair trade stuff because sometimes I just don’t have the money. But knowing WHY I should helps me to make those choices when I can.
image: maryeaudet
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I dislike chocolate teas, but when I was in the store and the cover came off this cannister I knew I was taking some of it home. Chocolate…spice..something…it was undefinable and I needed more.
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