Grab Some Green Holiday Coffee

It’s getting harder and harder to pick out a good green coffee. There are lots of coffee labels just aching to confuse you – it’s worse than trying to find ec0-friendly wine! However, if you break down the terms used for green coffee, it’ll make your selection easier. Good thing too for us coffee addicts (read me).

Roasted - this is a term you can safely ignore. ALL coffee is roasted what differs is the amount of roasting time and the level of heat used to roast. Roasting, unless a company is boasting that they use some sort of renewable energy to roast with, is not a sustainable coffee term.

Natural - means nothing. All coffee is natural – well, until coffee companies mess with it, but the actual term natural does not mean you’re getting better, greener coffee. It’s a marketing term plain and simple.

Fair Trade – You should look for this term if you want brew that’s putting more cash in the pockets of the coffee maker – basically it’s coffee sold sans a trader. NOTE: it is very important to recognize the distinction between “Fair Trade” and an organizational term such as TransFair USA. The difference here is that “Fair Trade” does not guarantee fair wages for coffee harvesters while “TransFair USA” does. If you want ethical coffee, look for an organizational term that does mean fair wages and working conditions for workers.

Also important to note is that Fair Trade does not mean greener coffee. Sustainable and Fair Trade do connect on some levels but Fair Trade alone does not mean that a coffee is without pesticides.

Organic - Organic coffee that’s been certified by the USDA or the OCIA is green coffee in that it’s been grown and produced without the addition of pesticides or herbicides.

Sustainable – I consider this an iffy term as a stand alone. There is no official “Sustainable” label. However, if a company says they’re making sustainable coffee it usually (if they’re being honest) means they use green and ethical practices such as organic growing, Fair Trade, using renewable energy, reducing fuel consumption, using recyclable pacakging, and so fourth. The issue is that sustainable is very broad and since it’s not regulated you should check into the company background.

Rainforest Alliance – this label or certification, sometimes seen as shade-grown or bird safe is certified by the, yup you guessed it, the Rainforest Alliance. This organization works with farmers and other businesses throughout the world to ensure that their goods and services are environmentally and socially friendly. I’m personally not a fan of third-party certification because their criteria is usually too easily adapted to meet regional-specific needs which makes it fuzzy. However, the Rainforest Alliance is a trustworthy source in my opinion because they offer a lot of transparent info at their site so this is a good eco label to look for.

Besides considering all of the above, you should also consider packaging (is it recyclable, printed with soy inks, etc.). Normally I’d also say go local to keep your carbon footprint down, but as of right now, unless you grow coffee at home, local means Hawaii only. The rest of the coffee in the world comes from out of the states. Which sadly means I really need some coffee carbon credits to offset my addiction.

Later we’ll see some good organic coffee choices for the holiday – ooooo, and maybe some treats to go with said coffee!

[image via stock.xchng]