As an example of a simple, easy, and mostly painless way to go green, I submit: the humble morning coffee. I, like many, many folks around the world, love my coffee. I like it the Seattle way: the nearer it is to a sludge-like consistency, the better.
If for whatever reason I don't get around to making my morning coffee at home (the "whatever reason" is usually I woke up late, although sometimes you just want a latte, not a drip coffee), I'm likely to make a quick stop somewhere along the way and pick a cup. I prefer to make my coffee at home, for a few reasons: I get to brew it the way I like (the aforementioned sludge method), I don't waste any of it (who knows how much gets poured down the drain at the cafe?), it's cheaper, I get to use my own mug - at home my mug of choice is a handmade one a friend made for me. Also the coffee I brew at home is always Fair Trade and Organic, and the coffee on the road is rarely so, especially at the big chains. However there are always great local joints that make available Fair Trade/Organic for the average cafe commuter. They're just a little off the beaten path.
By now most coffee drinkers know about the horrors of the coffee trade, both for the workers and the land, and know the necessity of buying FT/O. Yet, as I said, most chains rarely serve Fair Trade or FT/O as a morning blend option. If you want to do right by the farmers who produce that drink you love so much, insist that your favorite coffee joint begin to serve a Fair Trade alternative alongside the usual House Blends and French Roasts. The Fair Trade brand has already proven so popular and marketable that the average pound of Fair Trade costs no more than the average pound of Unfair Trade. There's no reason not to switch.
And then there is the ubiquitous paper cup. Sacred chalice of caffeine one minute, trash the next. In 2005 we used and tossed over 14 billion paper coffee cups. 14 billion! Wow. That's a lot of paper. That's also a lot of plastic: most never think about it, but each paper cup is lined with petroleum-based plastic to keep the cup and your hand from melting. Not to mention the lids. Many coffee companies have introduced partially-recycled cups - Starbucks has led the way with 10% recycled cups, and other major chains are lining up. Green Mountain Coffee has a cup with a corn-based biodegradable plastic inside.
This is great news, and it's good to see global companies like Starbucks lead the way in earth-friendly programs. But truly the only way to avoid that paper waste and to save a few trees is to bring in your own mug. Most major chains, like Starbucks and Caribou, offer a ten-cent discount for using your own mug instead of a paper cup. I say they bump it up to a 25-cent discount. Today, though, I ran into the ultimate mug discount (and the initial prompt for this post) at Great Harvest Bakery. Because I bought a tasty rhubarb muffin from them, and because I had my own mug, I got a FREE coffee. Yeah. I was still a bit groggy so I just stared at the cashier for a moment. "Free?" I said. "Yeah!" he said. I smiled and let out a little squeal (in my mind) and marched out, muffin and coffee in hand. Everything tastes better if it's free. It would be nice if we could get more companies to work like this.
So go get yourself a mug, and fill it up with some Fair Trade sludge.
The nice ceramic one I have doesn't work so well for me - one bump in the road and it's all over - but I always carry along my plastic, lidded, utterly reuseable and utterly awesome mug from Macy's European Coffee House in Flagstaff, AZ. Represent.
