For the Earth
Low Impact Business Practices
We are fiercely committed to a set of low impact business practices. It is our mission to have the smallest possible footprint on the earth and to constantly try and improve our environmental practices.
In support of our mission we:
- package our retail shelf coffees in US-made steel cans (75% post-consumer recycled content) which are reusable and recyclable as opposed to the common foil-lined valve packages which are not recyclable and end up in landfills
- take back the emptied poly bags which used for wholesale packaging and recycle them locally via bicycle
- reuse everything possible and donate what we cannot use
- recycle and compost almost all of the by-products from our business (and produce less than one five gallon bucket of trash per month)
- use 100% post consumer waste paper products
- distribute our empty burlap green coffee bags and roasted coffee chaff to local farmers for compost/fertilizer and winter produce storage
- use roasting technology that uses approximately half the amount of fuel traditional systems
Why the Can?
Why do we package our coffee in a can? We think the steel can is the most environmentally conscious way to package coffee. After years of grappling with how we could package our coffee for the consumer market without contributing to the expansive landfills, we decided emphatically on the steel can. Unlike plastic bags that are made of petro-chemicals and enjoy near-everlasting life in our landfills, our cans are made out of recycled steel that is re-usable and fully recyclable.
The foil valve lid which is seamed to the top of the can allows the freshly roasted coffee to off-gas carbon dioxide which pushes residual oxygen out of the can and forbids oxygen from re-entering. This oxygen-free environment allows the beans to maintain freshness integrity for months. The can itself is sturdy and protects our precious beans from outside elements like light or pressure.
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