For some of us, having a cup of coffee is as routine as putting on our shoes every morning. We drink it for the pick-me-up and, of course, the taste. But is it possible for our daily coffee, espresso, latte, or cappuccino to do someone else a bit of good? The short answer is yes. However, identifying a bag of beans to a particular cause can prove to be a daunting task. To help you out, we’ve put together a no-nonsense guide to common cause-related coffee certifications and the motivation behind each of them.

Rainforest Alliance Certified In order to bear this seal, the coffee farm must: Adhere to sustainable farm management practices Ensure conservation of the ecosystem, wildlife, and waterways Guarantee ethical, non-discriminatory hiring and work practices - children under the age of 15 are prohibited from being employed by the business and proper protective gear must be provided for workers Provide guidelines about agrochemical use Ban transgenic, or genetically modified, crops
Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center "Bird Friendly" Certification This logo can be found on coffee from Latin American farms that: Provide proper habitat for birds Grows shade-grown coffee, planted under a canopy of trees -- not land that has been cleared or deforested for farming purposes Cultivates organic coffee, grown without the use of chemical pesticides
Fairtrade International Certification This certification is normally granted to small farms that have been organized into co-ops or associations that are owned and governed by local farmers. Among other things, fairtrade standards for coffee ensure that: Coffee producers have been paid at least a fairtrade minimum price for their crops, currently $1.40 per pound for washed arabica and $1.35 for unwashed arabica with a minimum 30 cent differential for organic coffee A premium of 20 cents is added to the product price to be used by the producer, with 5 cents earmarked for quality and productivity improvements The use of agrochemicals is restricted and sustainable practices are encouraged The system fosters fair negotiations and reduces speculation Producer organizations are granted lines of credit -- up to 60% of the purchase price, if requested
USDA Organic Certification Granted by the United States Department of Agriculture, this seal certifies that the coffee has met the following requirements: Produced without the use of USDA excluded methods -- including genetic engineering -- ionizing radiation, or sewage sludge Produced per the National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances The farm is regularly inspected by official USDA Organic Program agents The farm uses ecologically-based practices and biological pest management systems and the land has not been exposed to pesticides or other prohibited substances for at least three years Organic and tradition crop must be separated by a buffer zone

Ask the experts and many of them will tell you the same thing: the single-serve coffee category is hotter than freshly brewed java. Fueled by convenience, the time-saving system that lets users prepare drinks by the cup is gaining popularity worldwide. Yet, since their inception, single-serve cups and capsules have had to dodge the criticism that they’re inherently bad for the environment.

Since single-serve capsules are discarded after each use, the brewing method is not as green as preparing drinks with ground coffee or espresso. And, we’re talking about a lot of cups and capsules. According to the National Coffee Association, single-serve coffee is the fastest-growing sector of the home market, as well as the second most popular brewing method after conventional drip coffee makers.

So, what’s an environmentally conscious coffee lover to do? Must eco-concerns be set aside in favor of fast, convenient, and reliable drinks by the cup? Fortunately, leading single-serve manufacturers are addressing the issue head on. Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (GMCR), the maker of K-Cups for Keurig, conducted a life cycle analysis to assess the environmental impact of its single-serve packs. Highlights of the study are as follows:

• "The most significant environmental impacts are associated with materials production/packaging, the use phase, and the coffee cultivation phase for the impact categories examined."
• "End-of-Life (EoL) is a small part of the K-Cup® pack life cycle, representing only 5% of GHG emissions. EoL represents only 1% of the energy demand, and 1% of the acidification potential."
• "The K-Cup® brewing system uses less energy in an office environment than a traditional batch brewing system. This translates into reduced environmental impact in all impact categories over the entire life cycle."

According to the study, even though the end-of-life cycle -- when a K-Cup is used and discarded -- is the most visible, it actually only accounts for only 5% of the potential global warming output. Nevertheless, GMCR has put together a program to allow workplace customers in the contiguous U.S. to collect and return spent K-Cups for composting and energy from waste processing. The Grounds to Grow On program is estimated to have recovered 4.1 million K-Cup packs and composted over 85,000 pounds of ground coffee in the same year. The plastic from spent K-Cups saved approximately 139 kilowatt hours.

Want to take matters into your own hands, give the Keurig My K-Cup filter basket a try. It is a reusable filter that lets you brew with any ground pre-ground coffee you choose. No hassle, no mess, and no waste.

At Nespresso, the talk centers around recycling as well as developing more sustainable aluminum for their single-serve capsules. In the U.S., the company has capsule collection systems in place in cities with Nespresso boutiques including: New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. Nespresso has also launched the AluCycle, partnering with mining, refining, retrieval, recycling organizations to improve the sustainability of aluminum. The company has also teamed up with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) to promote environmentally sound aluminum practices.

Taking its commitment one step further, Nespresso has equipped some of its single-serve machines with an ECO button, which will automatically turn the machine off after 30 minutes of inactivity to conserve energy. The feature is available on the latest generation of the CitiZ machines. As an added bonus, purchase any Nespresso single-serve machine over $199 from now until June 17, 2013 and you can register for a $50 Nespresso Club credit good for free capsules.

Illy iperEspresso fans can take heart in knowing that their capsules are made from recycled plastic. The company is working on a method to allow consumers to open, clean, and recycle their capsules.

While single-serve systems may not be as eco-friendly as other more traditional brewing methods, the leading manufacturers are taking notes and continually making improvements to their products. Don’t write them off just yet.

I was staying warm, enjoying a hot cup of coffee, and watching my wife through the window this chilly morning filling the frosty bird feeders in the back yard. I wondered where our “summer birds” were along their southern migration routes and envied their progression to warmer climes. For many years we have enjoyed seeing the many species that visit our feeders and the trees and bushes we planted for the benefit of birds, bees, and butterflies.

This got me thinking about migrating birds in other areas and what people are doing globally to preserve or create habitats. So, the conjunction of coffee – birds – habitat spurred my thinking about coffee production methods and types of coffee plantations in the Americas. There are two major types of coffee farming, sun-grown and shade-grown.  

Shade-coffee plantations can be defined as either rustic or new. Rustic plantations are created by leaving the original large tree canopy undisturbed and replacing the underbrush with coffee bushes. New shade-coffee plantations are created when a cleared forest is re-planted with large tree species for the shade canopy and coffee bushes as the undergrowth. The original varieties of coffee brought to the Americas were intolerant of direct sunlight, and required the shade of native forest trees to protect the leaves from burning. Coffee plants have been grown this way for close to two hundred years.

New sun tolerant coffee bushes have been developed over the past 3 decades that produce 3 times the yield of coffee beans but also require additions of chemical fertilizers, as well as a range of insecticides, herbicides and fungicides. So the trade off for more production has been fewer habitats for wildlife as forests are cleared for sun-coffee plantations, increased soil erosion, and toxic chemical run-off.  

Shade-coffee grown in a forest-like setting provides habitat for a surprisingly rich diversity of species, especially migratory birds. A shade-coffee forest mimics a native forest, with several vertical levels of growth and a wide variety of plants and insects for the birds to eat. One study conducted in Mexico found over 140 species of birds in shade coffee farms while sun-coffee farms contained only 5-6 species.

Shade-coffee plantations are where we observe bird species like the beautiful 17 inch long Blue-Crowned Motmot with its peculiar racket tipped tails, and green, blue and black colorings. Sightings of the Motmot have been recorded in new and rustic shade-coffee plantations in Guatemala, Mexico, and Panama, but they have not been documented in sun-coffee plantations. Its call is a low owl-like ooo-doot.

Obviously it’s a tough economic decision for the coffee farmer to employ shade-grown methods vs. getting the higher yields from sun-grown. We can help make that decision by buying shade-grown coffees, like Antica Organic, and thereby protecting the habitat of creatures like the Blue-Crowned Motmot. Ooo Doot!

America may run on coffee, but at the Nespresso Austria espresso bar it’s the clocks that are powered by java. The eco-conscious Mischer’Traxler design firm has transformed the famous Nespresso capsules and ground coffee into electricity that is actively being used by the cafe. Think twice before you discard the byproducts of your morning coffee. Once man’s spent capsules are another’s electricity!

Our family home when I was growing up was a greenhouse that my father had redesigned and converted into a residence. Of course what else do you do in a greenhouse? You grow a whole lot of plants. Fortunately for the plants, with the exception of me, the family all had green thumbs. The fact of the matter was that my attempts to even help tend to the house plants seemed to end in their demise. I believe that I even heard my mother once referred to me to her friends as ‘the Jeffery Dahmer of the plant world’ as she gave them a tour of the house.

Even with this sordid reputation and lack of gardening skills, the one plant that I have always wanted to grow and nurture in my home now would be a nice, floral and decorative coffee plant. They are beautiful ornamental plants and have small, fragrant flowers. The bonus of course is that you’ll have your own beans available if you are patient and tend your plant carefully.

How to Start Growing Your Coffee Plant
There are different ways to start growing your coffee. It is possible to germinate coffee plants from fresh, raw green coffee beans, but this is a very lengthy process that involves a fair amount of horticultural prowess. If you are interested in taking this path, there is a wealth of information online to help guide you. You can also root and grow plants from stem cuttings, but that requires having access to mature plants to take cuttings from. By far the easiest method for starting your coffee is by purchasing a plant either from a nursery or from a number of online sites. There are a wide variety of origins and sizes available to order, ranging from $8 to $20 per plant.

Caring For Your Coffee Plant
Which ever way you have chosen to start your coffee plant, caring for it should be fairly simple. You will want to make sure that it is planted in a quality potting soil in a pot with a good drainage system. Since coffee plants grow rapidly, every spring you will want to repot your plant in the next size larger pot.

Find a location in the house that does not drop below 65 degrees Fahrenheit near a shaded window that does not get more than an hour of direct sunlight per day. Coffee plants also do very well under artificial indoor plant lights as well.

Your plant should be watered twice a week and fertilized every two weeks using a soluble, all purpose 10-10-10 fertilizer. When winter starts, reduce watering to once a week for 2 to 3 months. Then in the spring, when you increase the watering again, your plant should be shocked into producing flowers. Also, since humidity is crucial for coffee plants, it will be necessary to mist it several times a week. If the leaves start browning at the tips, it means that it needs to be misted more frequently.

Harvesting Coffee Beans
This is the part that requires patience. It could take a full sized, homegrown coffee plant 3 to 4 years to produce cherries, sometimes as much as 6 years. When it is ready, small green fruit will appear about 6 to 7 weeks after the plant has flowered. After approximately 30 weeks the green fruit will turn to a rich, dark red and is ready for picking. Remember not to pick the cherries too soon, because they will not ripen any further once they are picked.

In The Mean Time
Growing your own coffee plant may be very gratifying, especially when you taste your first sip of coffee roasted from your own beans, but while you are waiting for your precious beans to arrive, it may be a good idea to purchase one of the many varieties of coffee blends that we sell here at Whole Latte Love.

Are you growing a coffee plant at home now? Do you have any advice to share about growing your plant?

Have you ever tried coffee that has been harvested from a homegrown plant?

Many coffee houses across the country are encouraging caffeine junkies to bring their own mug and save some change. If you bring your own mug to your local café, you may be able to keep the change on your purchase.

Want to keep your hands from feeling the burn while drinking your coffee? There are now-earth friendly alternatives to the tried and true cardboard coffee sleeve. The EcoSleeve is an alternative made from 100% biodegradable and recyclable materials.

If you want to go green while brewing your own coffee at home, a quick change will help save Mother Earth. Purchase wooden coffee stirrers that are biodegradable instead of plastic ones. If you want to eliminate coffee clutter in landfills all together, pour your cream and sugar into your mug first. The hot tea or coffee will automatically mix with your cream and sugar--no stirring required.

If you already have a green thumb, go green with your gardening habits. Don't throw your used coffee grounds in the trash, mix them into your potting soil to act as a fertilizer and keep unwanted pests away.

With just a few small changes you can enjoy your cup o'Joe and join the go green movement as well.