Survey: Paper or Porcelain?
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 09.21.07
As we noted recently, a cup of joe has a big ecological footprint,whether it is the the type of coffee, the cup you drink it from, even the stir stick. Then of course there is the garbage generated and the exhaust fumes at the drive-through window.
Commenters in the earlier post certainly had opinions, some of which are quoted below.
UPDATE: Warren chiselled out an early post on this subject three years ago!
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Actually, I'm off coffee as well. I'm spending a lot more money on good chinese teas from www.redblossomtea.com and composting the spent leaves.
wow, that "we are happy to serve you cup in ceramic"..... now that is a fine/u> cup for coffee!
Coffee makes my day and I can't wait to have my cup as soon as I wake up!
The disposable coffee cup is the plastic grocery bag of the coffee world.
Convenience is oftern the culprit behind our excessive waste.
People usually choose the cheapest route, but coffee seems to be one of the exceptions. I spend the same amount of money on a month's worth of organic, shade grown free trade coffee beans to brew at home as I would for 1 week's worth of questionable convenience coffee. Plus I know my filters are not bleached, my grinds are composted (actaully just tossed on the lawn) and every cup is perfectly fresh.
Wherever you get your coffee, there isn't any excuse for not having your own cup.
i make my own coffee and tea in the morning and i voted for the "let's just stop the yuppie obsession" thing, but i still believe that it is possible to revive the classy, social atmosphere coffee houses once had. )i say, independent coffee houses are the way to go )and bring your own damn mug(, most of the time they feel more personal and overall more comfortable(.
I bring a thermos.
3 days a week, I walk 1/3rd a mile with my travel mug and buy a cup of coffee.. It is fairtrade shadegrown organic coffee.. It costs me $1.80. The rest of the week, I make my own. Using Fair Trade Shadegrown Organic coffee... It costs me 79 cents a pot roughly.
I don't go to the coffee house for the coffee though. I go to get out of the house. Working at home makes you pretty isolated at times. Especially since my wife uses the only car for work because there are no carpools and no public transportation to her job site in the mountains,