Sustainable Coffee Solutions

Happy Saturday, readers! I hope wherever you’re tuning in, that you have a cup of something warm in-hand. This post is all about community connections and sustainable coffee solutions. Let’s brew it up!

Recently, I was brewing myself a cup of coffee using a cone brewer, when I remembered hearing about a reusable solution to traditional single-use coffee filters. I looked at my stack of perfect-white cone filters and struggled for a minute: “I already have these filters (they came with the cone brewer),” I thought, “but I’d really like to transition to something I can wash and reuse”. What’s a girl to do?

Putting the Coffee On

To find the answer, I did what any 21st century sleuth would do: I took to the Internet. But I didn’t Google my way to an answer…I asked my online community and the results blew me away! This search a) generated all kinds of new conversations with some pretty amazing humans and b) it made me aware of a local company (Pinyon Products) who is working hard to create sustainable coffee solutions. In the span of a day, I had a reasonably-priced, reusable coffee filter option in hand! #win

The takeaway?

The next time you’re seeking a particular product or service, ask your online community! These platforms aren’t just for us to mindlessly scroll and waste our days away with. It’s called “social” media for a reason: use it! Thank you to Chickpeace Planet Forward, Farm Bound Zero Waste, and Green Okanagan for your collective help crowd-sourcing my coffee solution!

Why a reusable coffee filter?

In our house, we use a 12-cup Cuisinart drip-style coffee maker with a reusable brew basket. With good beans, it makes a great cuppa joe. On days when we don’t need quite so much caffeine though, we whip out our trusty one-cup cone brewer. As mentioned previously, the cone brewer came with a set of paper filters, which we have dutifully been using, because why waste what already exists?

But this blog is all about plastic pollution and oceans and sustainability success so…what’s the connection here? Well, paper coffee filters affect our watery environments in at least two ways that I can see: 

1. Sheer volume of waste. Coffee filters create waste, plain and simple! Coupled with the fact that many regions don’t have municipal compost, we’re left with a bit of a mess. More trash equals more chance of it all washing into our waterways and ultimately, the ocean.
2. Overuse of forest resources. By leaning on trees to make paper coffee filters, we’re harming vital ecosystems that give us oxygen and soil stability. If we continue to chop down forests for filters, we risk creating areas more prone to landslides and runoff. The downstream effects are felt on marine ecosystems as increased nutrient and sediment loads create an imbalance in coastal waterways.

Everything Has Impact

Of course, reusable coffee filters are not exempt from environmental impact either. The product I picked up is crafted using a blend of organic cotton and hemp. Farming has impacts, too.

So here we are, wanting our coffee but not wanting to kill trees and suddenly terrified that literally everything we do has an impact somewhere. It’s enough to make you want to go back to bed and forego the coffee. But fear not…

Sustainable Coffee Solutions

Let’s go back to Pinyon’s coffee filter for a ray of freakin’ sunshine. In choosing to craft its filters out of organic cotton and hemp, Pinyon is already coming out ahead. Organic cotton has a far lower total environmental footprint than conventionally-produced cotton. Hemp is one of the most sustainable plants ever, that we should be growing more of! 

The more we use our reusable products, the lower their overall footprint becomes. The quote below is in reference to reusable coffee cups vs. single-use paper but it holds true for other reusable items as well!

“Unless a reusable cup is used enough times to offset the materials used in its production, it isn’t an environmental choice.”

Perfect Daily Grind

There’s a lot here and I don’t want to overwhelm you if you haven’t had your coffee yet. My message is simple: ask friends for help when making low-waste switches to your home, and observe your coffee habits. For me, switching to a reusable coffee filter is one of my sustainable coffee solutions!

Are you using paper filters and if so, would you consider switching to a reusable option?