Reducing our Impact

In making our coffee purchases, we are mindful of the impact our decisions have on the rainforest.  We don’t buy coffee unless we have some assurance that the farmers have taken care to protect the ecosystem.  Sometimes we rely on organic or Rainforest Alliance certifications, and often we personally visit the farms to learn first-hand about our farmers’ environmental practices.  In all cases, we understand the importance of protecting the rainforest and strive to make our purchases of coffee reflect this concern.

We also take steps closer to home to reduce our environmental impact.  The vast majority of paper and plastic waste created by a coffee shop is its disposable cups. Nearly all paper cups being used in specialty coffee shops in New York City today, for example, are neither compostable nor recyclable: they end up in a landfill. But we are early adopters of new packaging technology that allows both our paper and “plastic” cups (which are actually made from plants) to degrade and return harmlessly to the earth when composted. We believe that we are the first and only specialty coffee shop in New York City that both uses biodegradable hot and cold cups and provides a composting service for our customers.

We have also taken a number of other steps to reduce our impact on the environment, including:

• Composting all of our food scraps and coffee grounds;
• Offering incentives for the purchase of our travel mugs – we sell them at or near cost — and for the use of our travel mugs — we offer a discount on drinks served in them; and
• Offering our customers ceramic mugs and other reusable cups for orders that are to stay.