Small changes in your daily routine can help you to create a more eco-friendly lifestyle. Take your morning cup of coffee for example. Hopefully you already buy fair trade, organic and shade-grown coffee beans. But then there are so many choices when it comes to brewing your perfect cup of coffee with different environmental impacts. Enter FSC-certified filters.
At first glance, a French press might be the most environmentally friendly choice. No electricity is needed, but you still have to heat the water. Some drip coffee makers give you the option to replace disposable paper filters with reusable cotton or stainless steel filters. In my case, I have been using the same drip coffee maker for the last 10 years with filters made from recycled paper. Lately, my preferred products are the cone coffee filters from If You Care that are made from Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)-certified, unbleached, totally chlorine-free (TCF) paper. No chlorine or chlorine derivatives were used in their production, which is safer for our streams. They are even certified compostable for municipal and commercial composting, or you can simply compost them in your backyard. The packaging is made of recycled, processed chlorine-free (PCF) cardboard with non-toxic glues and printed with vegetable-based inks. It should be recycled after you used up all your filters.
The company If You Care creates environmentally-friendly kitchen and household items. Its first products were unbleached coffee filters that launched in 1990. Soon, other products followed such as parchment baking paper and baking cups made of unbleached and chlorine-free paper. Other eco-friendly products include aluminum foil made from 100 percent recycled aluminum, which has 95 percent energy savings compared to conventional aluminum foil, as well as sandwich and snack bags made from unbleached, greaseproof paper. All products are either recyclable or compostable to create the least amount of waste in our waste streams. Next time you make yourself a cup of coffee in the morning, I hope you consider the environment as well. Here’s one last tip: compost your used grounds if you have a garden. They add nitrogen to your soil and help to turn organic matter into compost.
Connect with Elke @eco_chic_design