Top Pick Of The Week

February 15, 2011

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Sustainable Coffee - Tiny Footprint

One small step in your home leads to one big contribution to the planet. Photo by Katharine Pollak | THE NIBBLE.

WHAT IT IS: Sustainable coffee with a negative carbon footprint.
WHY IT’S DIFFERENT: It’s organic, carbon negative and delicious—truly rich, aromatic and special.
WHY WE LOVE IT: The coffee would be a standout even if it did nothing for the environment. But we love that it lowers our carbon footprint!
WHERE TO BUY IT: Buy Online Here
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.Tiny Footprint Coffee:
Page 2: Your Carbon Footprint

Overview

Most people understand what organic agriculture means. The two key points are no chemical pesticides and conservation of the environment. Organic products are called sustainable products because they keep the environment and the livestock healthy and viable.

While this isn’t an article on avenues to sustainability, another option is to lower your carbon footprint. Buying products that are local, organic, carbon neutral or any combination of sustainable features bonds you to the land and the food it produces for you.

What Is A Carbon Footprint?

Your carbon footprint is the total amount of greenhouse gas produced to directly and indirectly support all of your life activities—food, shelter, transportation and so forth. It is usually expressed in equivalent tons of carbon dioxide (CO2). Everything you buy and use makes your footprint grow. You can calculate your carbon footprint via the link below.

Why should you care about your carbon footprint? Carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases—hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), perfluorocarbons (PFCs) and sulphur hexafluoride (SF6)—drive climate change, previously known as global warming. You don’t have to know Al Gore or have seen An Inconvenient Truth to appreciate the problem. Even if you’re just one person, you can contribute to the solution.


What About Buying Local?

Much has been written about the locavore movement. The goal is to eat foods grown/raised no more than 100 miles (“food miles”) away. The concept is that the fuel used to transport foods long distances is a key contributor to greenhouse gas.

However, Carnegie Mellon researchers Christopher L. Weber and H. Scott Matthews argue that it is dietary choice, not food miles, that most determines a household’s food-related climate impact.

Transportation as a whole, they say, represents only 11% of greenhouse gas emissions. It is the type of food purchased that makes a difference—not just in transportation but in the processing. Read the full article.

The article continues below.

INDEX OF REVIEW

This is Page 1 of a two-page review. Click on the black links to visit other pages:

MORE TO DISCOVER

Calculate & Reduce Your Carbon
Footprint

You can calculate your personal carbon footprint. You’ll be amazed at how much carbon dioxide emission is attributable to you and your family.


What can you do about it?

  • Eat vegan one day a week. It isn’t hard. Cereal with soymilk, a bagel with peanut butter instead of cream cheese, pasta primavera, rice and grain dishes, and veggie stir-frys are delicious and require no pain or sacrifice. Enjoy the fries and the pickles; just make that burger a veggie burger. On average, red meat is about 150% more greenhouse gas-intensive than chicken or fish. Thus, a dietary shift can be a more effective means of lowering your food-related carbon footprint. And of course, buy sustainably-produced food (organic, locavore, carbon neutral, etc.).
  • Do more recycling at home.
  
America loves its burgers, but the production of red meat is the largest contributor to greenhouse gas. Can you cut back to one burger a week? Photo by Paul Johnson | IST.
  • Lower your transportation footprint. Consider trains instead of planes or driving. Organize your week better so you can do errands while you’re already in the area instead of making a separate trip.
  • Reduce your office footprint. Print on both sides of paper, recycle toner cartridges, turn off computers and power strips at the end of the day.

Here are more ideas.

You can start with one cup of sustainable coffee, and give yourself props for each additional small change.

—Karen Hochman

TINY FOOTPRINT COFFEE

Carbon Negative Gourmet Coffee

Ground

Whole Bean

Whole Bean (Large)

  

However you like your roast, Tiny Footprint has an option. Photo by Katharine Pollak | THE NIBBLE.

To learn more about the company, visit TinyFootprintCoffee.com.

 

Go To The Article Index Above


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