How Ethical is Your Coffee?

Have you thought about whether your daily coffee ritual is ethical or sustainable? Here’s how you can identify.

So you have your morning routine down pat. You get up, grind your own beans and pour out a delicious scented roasted coffee to kick start your day. Or perhaps instant or pod coffee is more your thing. For others, they rely on their fave cafe for their morning caffeine hit. but have you ever thought about whether the coffee you drink of a morning is ethical to sustainable.

The truth is, most beans today are in the habit of being ethically and sustainably sourced. However, there are still many brands who don’t deliver on their promises and are not ethical or sustainable at all.

But that doesn’t mean you have to give your ritual up entirely. There are ways to check your favourite bean to determine how ethical and how sustainable it really is.

Here’s are five ways to check if your coffee is costing the earth?

Check the Label:

If you buy your own coffee, check the label details of the coffee to see whether it is sourced from and then visit their website and learn about their ethical stand points on coffee. Most coffee brands, like Harris Coffee have dedicated pages on their website which details where they source their coffee from and how sustainable the process and packaging is.

If you buy your coffee, check with your local cafe. Or if you prefer not to ask them, ask what bean it is and then do a google search to check details of the brand.

Use Your Own Cup:

If you do buy coffee on a regular basis from local cafes, then use your own cups. There are so many great reusable coffee cups, with beautiful designs. Although I usually make my own coffee at home before hitting the road to go most places, I do keep a spare one in the car for those moments I want to stop by a cafe and get a coffee.

Of course there are always those random moments where I am out with friends and not with my car and do have to use a disposable coffee cup. But hey, if I can reduce the amount of those cups I am using daily then that’s a good first step I think.

Ditch the Pod Coffee:

I know I know. You just received the best pod coffee machine ever for Christmas and you are obsessed. But are your pods sustainable and recyclable? It’s okay, don’t get rid of your cool new gadget. You can swap the pods if the ones which come with the machine aren’t recyclable. But don’t not use them either. Cause that’s wasteful to throw out good coffee as well.

Finish what you have, and in the meantime do a little research on what types of pods your machine can take. There are many alternative brands available who make pods for different types of machines which produce more ethical and sustainable pods which are recyclable.

Reuse Your Coffee Grounds:

If you grind your own coffee, there are a few ways you can reuse the grounds. Try making your own coffee scrub (check a recipe out online) or mix it in with your compost for your garden. Don’t out directly onto the garden though, as it will fairly acidic and not good for some types of plants.

Do some research on what you can use coffee grounds for, you’ll be surprised what you can do with it. Like mixing with coconut oil for a lip scrub. Or perhaps go onto Gumtree and sell the grounds off, as someone who makes beauty products may be looking.