Reducing the negative environmental impact of your caffeine habit – Shade grown coffee edition
“How do you take your coffee?” Eric’s response: “Very, very seriously.” 🙂 Eric is an avid coffee drinker. He loves scoping out small cafes for specialty lattes. He also enjoys a good ol’ cup of joe brewed at home. I drink about one cup of coffee per day so I would say I’m a little more casual with my caffeine habit.
Even so, we do tend to go through a lot of coffee. Something that Eric was very happy to find is that there are sustainable coffee companies that use shade-growing techniques, which has a lot of benefits to the environment. We want to share our favorite shade grown coffee brands and other ways you can reduce the environmental impact of your caffeine habit.
What is shade grown coffee?
Many of the countries that grow coffee were removing trees to make room for coffee crops. I’m sure we can all agree that deforestation has devastating effects worldwide. In the late 1990s, more attention was brought to the benefits of using shade-growing techniques in agriculture. Some coffee producers have long known the benefits of shade-growing techniques, but others have thankfully started to move back towards this more sustainable practice. So essentially, shade grown coffee is exactly that. The crops are planted under existing forests and the crop grows in the shade of those mighty trees.
Is shade grown coffee really that much better for the environment?
The short answer is yes. Deforestation for crops and other food products is wreaking havoc on our environment. Even if you cannot see the deforestation from your back door, rest assured that these practices have broad global impact.
There are many environmental benefits to shade-grown coffee, which you can read more about on the Smithsonian’s website. I’ll share a few examples in case you are looking for the TLDR summary. By not deforesting areas for growing coffee, habitat is left intact and allows more diversity of species to be supported. More trees = more happy living creatures. Also, leaving the trees helps to reduce soil erosion. Lastly, trees play an important role in carbon sequestration. By supporting shade-grown coffee producers, you can help support the environment.
Brands of Shade Grown Coffee that We Love
If you are looking for some brands of shade grown coffee to try, we have two favorites. One is Songbird Coffee and the other is Wood Warbler Coffee. We buy in large bags to reduce the shipping frequency (another easy habit to start if you want to live greener!). We also buy whole beans and grind them in our grinder. (Ok, that may be mostly because Eric takes his coffee very seriously and fresh ground coffee is… *chef’s kiss*.) Both brands have been delicious.
Some coffee connoisseurs will even go as far to say that shade grown coffee tastes better because of the better quality of the soil and composition of the environment created by having the forest sheltering the crops throughout their lifecycle. While I myself may not be able to taste the difference, I certainly know that I am making a better choice by buying shade grown coffee. Next time you need to buy coffee, consider finding out if your current favorite brand uses sustainable practices. If they are not, why not give a different, more eco-friendly brand a try?