5 tips for greener and more responsible coffee

In honor of Earth Day, here are 5 tips to reduce your environmental impact, one cup at a time!

1. Choose fairtrade and organic coffees

Organic farming has a range of beneficial effects for the environment: when your coffee is Ecocert certified, you can rest assured that it comes from a production that respect the environment, better management of available energy and of natural resources (water, air, soil fertility), socially responsible sectors, and better product quality and safety. This certification defends essential elements address today's economic, social and environmental challenges.

The land where coffee is grown is enriched with natural plant materials and coffee growers can benefit from safer and more reliable farming practices. In addition, there is no exposure to pesticides for the coffee growers and families who grow the coffee, and less risk of respiratory and health problems for the communities.

Fairtrade certification, on the other hand, allows farmers to receive a fair price for their coffee beans, in addition to the Fairtrade premium. The Fairtrade Premium is an additional sum of money that goes into a communal fund for workers and farmers to use to improve their social, economic and environmental conditions. Producers determine what is most important to them; whether this is education or health care for their children, improving their business, or building vital infrastructure such as roads and bridges for their community. These projects help improve their businesses and communities. Concretely, this means investments in schools, transport, health care, sanitation facilities as well as a better environment, equipment and business practices.

Ideally, select the two certifications (organic and fairtrade) to have the best impact. When you choose a coffee with both certifications, you can be sure that you are helping to protect the environment and the well-being of the people behind your daily cup of coffee.

2. Buy locally roasted coffee

Coffee doesn't grow in Canada, but you can count on plenty of local roasters to provide you with great coffee. This is a great way to reduce your ecological impact, but also to support our economy.

Plus, you'll get fresher, better quality coffee and a wide range of choices to help you find the perfect cup for you.

3. Prioritize bulk coffee

There is always a compromise to be made between freshness and sustainability. Normally, we recommend drink your coffee within 2 weeks of purchasing it to enjoy your cup at its best. On the other hand, if you are unable to obtain bulk coffee every 2 weeks, select the largest bag size possible in order to limit packaging use. If you get yourself a 5lb bag of coffee, you might not be able to taste coffee at its fresher, but you're doing a little more to help fight climate change.

Either way, try to reuse your bag as much as possible. And if you're shopping online, choose our compostable bag option. Since our coffees are shipped immediately after being roasted, you won't have to worry about the freshness!

4. Go for traceability

We hear more and more about direct trade: it is not so much a specific purchasing model, but rather a term generally used in the industry to refer the practice of buying as close to the producer level as possible.

Direct trade is a way of trading coffee that focuses on a direct relationship between producer and buyer to improve communication, quality, transparency, and sustainability. You'll be able to know exactly where each coffee bean we source comes from: your coffee comes from the producer and arrives directly to us to be roasted!

5. Use reusable containers

According to various estimates, Canadians use 1.5 to 2 billion paper cups each year; millions end up in the dump. Worrying, isn’t it? Of course, our compostable cups are more environmentally friendly, they still need to be disposed of properly. Throwing them into the wrong bin defeats their purpose.

The best option is to bring your reusable cup, travel mug, tumbler, sealed containers, name it! Remember to bring them every time you visit us to reduce your impact.