I swore it would not happen. I really hate McDonalds. It is not my kind of place. It is not a happy place. Not for me, anyway. If I am going to do fast food (RARE!) then a quick run by Whataburger or Sonic is my choice.
But I just read that the roaster supplying McDonalds with their espresso coffee blend is Distant Lands in Tyler, Texas. Distant Lands is the same eco-friendly roaster that is supplying Panera. The beans are not organic but I believe that they are Fair Trade coffee beans.

Anyway, I like Panera coffee. That means that more …read more

I was reading this article about Starbucks in Reuters with great interest, Green or Greenwashed?
Frankly, I am not sure that any large company can ever be green. No matter how much they try their very existence as a corporation will preclude them being environmentally friendly.

Green belongs to the small, local coffee shops that use “for here” cups and buy their organic, shade grown, bird friendly coffee from a local roaster or roast it themselves. Green belongs to small, family owned companies that operate in communities, support the local communities, and refuse to grow past a certain, controllable point.

Being gentle with the environment is not only popular, it is important.  I do not worship trees, but neither do I take for granted the rich resources and beauty that humans have been blessed with.  I love stories about people doing cool things.

I was emailed the following story.  How cool is this?
A coffeehouse opened in Tunkhannock, Pa in December.  It’s name is Swirls and it is owned by Dawn Kuduk.    She wanted to support the environment and promote sustainability…what to do?
She decided to offer one dollar off coffee to anyone who used a cup that they brought from home.  …read more

I want you to know, dear readers, that I have checked my facts on this.  More than once. It is apparently true, or at least a very good possibility.
The caffeine in your pee is bleaching the coral reefs.

Apparently the cleaning process that wastewater goes through at sewage plants does not effectively get the caffeine out of our personal wastewater.  It leaves up to three percent of our caffeine out-go in the cleansed water.  The water is released into the environment and finds it’s way into the ocean.
Well caffeine in the ocean apparently means more than buzzing tuna. Yep.  Apparently the …read more

Researchers have found that it is possible to use coffee grounds as the basis for biodiesel for cars and other gas guzzling vehicles.
Best of all both the fuel and the exhaust SMELLS like coffee.  Imagine, we could lure aliens from all over the universe with the smell of freshly brewed coffee wafting through space.

With so much emphasis put on the slow food movement and eating locally, and I can tell you that I am a firm believer in that, is it possible to cafeinate locally when you live somewhere other than a coffee growing area?  How about tea?

 
Michel Kreuger of Amsterdam’s Studio Noach has come up with a unique way to deal with styrofoam coffee cups.