[Part of my series on Non-Disposable Alternatives to Disposable Items]

Ahhhhhh…Coffee.
It’s the #1 addictive drug of Western Civilization.
Cut off the coffee supply and the world just might stop turning–or at least millions might be grumpy enough to wish it would!

All those coffee drinkers…throwing away 2-4 paper coffee cups a day. And coffee filters, too.
The office coffee pot looks a bit more menacing from the environmental standpoint, doesn’t it?
We’ll discuss coffee itself later in this article, but let’s just solve the “little problems” first:

Alternatives to Disposable Coffee Filters:
Get a reusable filter. Yes, it really is that easy!
Reusable Coffee Filters are available in:
1. Cotton, (and here),
2. Gold, and
3. Hemp.
Apparently, they also come in plastic, but I’m not going to suggest it.
I’ve had a gold filter for six (6) years and I love it!
(My previous gold filter lasted only 5 years but had to be replaced when I punched a hole in it while cleaning it. I am a klutz! All you need to do is rinse out the coffee grounds.)

Alternatives to Disposable Coffee Cups:
1. Ceramic. Buy yourself and everyone in the office a dark ceramic coffee cup (one that won’t show rings!) Either take them home and wash them, or spring for personalized ones and encourage everyone to rinse them out at the end of the day and reuse them the next. (How about you stock the sink with environmentally-safe, phosphate-free dish soap?)
2. Reusable To-Go Cup. Many coffee shops even give you a discount if you use your own cup! Most coffee shops actually sell these, so you won’t have to go out of your way if you’re a coffee shop type of caffeine addict.

And speaking of caffeine addiction, let’s talk about the
Environmental Impact of Coffee and Alternatives to Coffee

Traditionally grown and roasted coffee has:
-contributed to deforestation of rain forests (think “slash and burn” agriculture)
-been grown with chemical pesticides and fertilizers
-polluted water with runoff from the processing plant
and
-damaged the soil structure
(according to the NRDC.)
Add to that the fossil fuels used to transport it, and coffee’s “carbon footprint” is King-Kong sized!

But, we’re not ready to give up our coffee just yet!
Even Locavores make exceptions for coffee!

Organic coffee:
-doesn’t use chemical fertilizers or pesticides
But, there are still the problems with: deforestation and habitat destruction, soil structure destruction, pollution from processing, and the environmental costs of transportation!

Shade-grown coffee:
-doesn’t contribute to deforestation
-uses less pesticides and fertilizers
and
-doesn’t destroy the soil structure.
However, there’s still the problems associated with processing and transport!

So, what’s a caffeine addict to do?
Alternatives to Coffee:
1. Tea. There are still the environmental costs of transportation, and, according to the WWF, tea production contributes to loss of habitat, local deforestation, and soil degradation. However, there is not much pollution from processing.
2. Cola. Eco-problems include: the environmental costs of transportation, water use, pollution of waterways from processing, and destruction of habitat/deforestation associated with cocoa production.

So where does that leave us?
1. Wean ourselves off caffeine. (See: 7 Food Hacks to Stay Alert Without Caffeine at Zen Habits.)
2. Drink coffee in the most environmentally responsible manner possible: buy organic, fair-trade, shade-grown coffee, use reusable filters and cups, and compost the coffee grounds.

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