4 Ways to Make Your Coffee Habit More Eco-Friendly

Coffee addictions can be pretty brutal to the environment. Think about how many people drink coffee every day. That's a whole lot of disposable coffee cups. And that's just one way it's hurting our planet. Here are a few ways to becoming more sustainable with coffee drinking.

Stay Away from Single-Serve Coffee Machines

Although single-serve coffee makers (like Keurig or Nespresso) are great for eliminating excess coffee waste by only brewing one cup, they are horrible for the environment overall. The individual coffee pods are made of plastic and ultimately end up in landfills. You’ve probably heard it before but this statistic is too powerful to ignore: if you lined up the amount of K-Cups in landfills, you could circle the globe more than ten times. The unnecessary waste needs to stop! It’s getting so bad that a city in Germany has banned the use of these coffee pods altogether in order to reduce the dangerous waste buildup that they are causing.

Just by switching to another method of brewing, (we, of course, recommend pour-over coffee) you could have a substantial impact on the environment by decreasing waste in landfills. And if you do decide on pour-over, you are not only reducing plastic waste but also saving energy by not using any electricity. You can’t beat that!

Reuse Your Coffee Grounds in Fertilizer and/or Compost

A lot of people don’t know that there are so many ways to reuse your coffee grounds! One of the awesome uses for them is as a natural fertilizer for your potted plants or home garden. All you have to do is sprinkle the grounds into the soil and they will improve drainage, water retention, and soil aeration.

If you want, you can even take it a step further and add coffee grounds to your compost pile! The grounds help food scraps degrade quicker and evenly, and greatly improves the smell of your compost pile.

Using a natural fertilizer and compost for your garden makes a huge positive impact on the environment. Synthetic fertilizers deplete the nutrients in the soil and cause chemical runoff and air pollution. So since you already have the coffee grounds, why not make great use of them by adding them to your garden to replace the unnecessary use of chemical products!

Stay Away from Disposable Coffee Cups

Every year 500 billion coffee cups are thrown into the trash after just one use. Using one disposable cup for 20 minutes will end up in a landfill for dozens, if not hundreds, of years. We have to put an end to this, especially because it is completely unnecessary!

Instead of using a styrofoam, paper, or plastic cup at home or at the office, use a mug! And if you prefer your coffee on the go, buy a stainless steel travel mug. They make them in every style and color possible, so you’re bound to find one you love. They also last years so if you make a small investment on one now, you’ll be set for a long time.

If you’re someone who likes to occasionally grab a coffee from a coffee shop or cafe, bring your own mug- they will fill it up for you! Some coffee shops will even discount your coffee if you bring your own cup. We suggest keeping a clean travel mug in your car so that if you make a last minute decision to buy a coffee, you won’t have to use a disposable cup.

Support Sustainable Coffee Farmers

If you’re an avid coffee drinker, you probably place a pretty high value on your morning cup-of-Joe. Shouldn’t you also care about where your cup of coffee is coming from? A lot of people are blind to the fact that many coffee farmers are overworked and underpaid. Aside from this, a growing number of coffee farms are destroying forests and harming the environment.

Sounds terrible right? The good news is that you can switch brands and only buy from sustainable coffee farms instead of supporting the bad guys. You want to look for brands that place a high value on conserving nature and providing better lives for the farmers that work there. Perk Pods is proud to work with sustainable coffee farmers so that together we can support and maintain the best farmers, communities, and ecosystems.