Green Living: Green Your Coffee

More than half of Americans are daily coffee drinkers. That’s a lot of Joe, and a huge opportunity to get your morning buzz more sustainably.

FAIR TRADE

Did you know that the beans for all Dunkin’ Donuts espresso beverages, including cappuccino and lattes, are certified Fair Trade through TransFair USA? Or that you can request a cup of Fair Trade Coffee at Starbucks. Don’t worry, you won’t be more annoying than that guy ordering a venti triple shot soy vanilla latte. Georgio’s Coffee, 146 W. Jericho Tpke., Huntington, has been pushing completely guilt-free brews to java junkies for the past 27 years. They’re not only Fair Trade certified, but they’ve even developed close relationships with the coffee farmers themselves, helping to build housing for displaced farmers around the globe. So, getting your morning cup from these guys helps support a local business and helps farmers abroad. That’s definitely something worth drinking up every morning.

BUY A THERMOS

It will only cost you a few bucks at the store and it will save some of the billions of non-recyclable cups used ever year by most chain coffee joints. Many of these places will even give you a discount for saving them the extra cup, so it’s a win-win.

This humble coffee cup is one of the things that make New York, well, New York. Hundreds of thousands of them have been carried out of city delis since 1963, when the Sherri Cup Company set out to produce a to-go cup that would appeal to the many Greek vendors in NYC. New York’s most famous paper cup, is now being replicated in ceramic by the folks at www.wearehappytoserveyou.com.

COMPOST YOUR ROAST

The high nitrogen content of coffee makes a great fertilizer. Composting leaves and grounds helps keep organic waste out of landfills, and makes great soil. And, pretty soon you may even be able to use them in the office. Riti just released a printer that uses coffee grounds as ink. It’s hasn’t hit stores yet, but check it out at www.gizmodo.com.

NOT A COFFEE DRINKER?

If your morning ritual consists of bottled water, we know you’re going to recycle it when you’re done, (wink, wink) but remember numbers matter! Before you snap open that bottle of water, flip it over. Some plastics, like PVC, contain hormone disruptors or other nasty chemicals that can leech into your drink. But these plastics are easily identified by their recycling codes. Avoid plastics numbered 3, 6 or 7, which indicate the presence of chemicals like BPA, an organic compound suspected of being toxic.