Your daily cup of coffee might just be costing you more than you think... Recent research from the Carbon Reduction Institute shows that the environmental impact of a cup of coffee is as bad as leaving your light on at home.

Research from the Carbon Reduction Institute shows each latté consumed has the same environmental impact as leaving your 60 watt bathroom light globe on for 3 hours. Times that by 2 lattés a day, 5 times a week and over a year you just left that light globe on for 2 months!

Thinking about what this implies we should remember that the impact of climate change is not just in Antarctica. In the Tropics where the luscious caffeine crop grows, growers are noticing unusual weather changes with extended heavy rains in Peru and Colombia resulting in volume shortfalls around 30%.

More and more businesses across the world are now dedicated to joining the fight against climate change. In Australia to get a dose of coffee minus the Carbon some businesses like Jasper Coffee have decided to go “carbon neutral” by calculating the footprint from their packaging, airflights, power, water and vehicles among all else, and determining the real cost of consuming the revered flat white that keeps us perky during the day.

“Over the years, we have always been conscious of the coffees we choose with respect to sustainability. We have 22 shade grown coffees and 15 Fairtrade Organic, along with a raft of other Fairtrade Organic products and recyclable take away cups. Having measured our carbon emissions we have now offset 100% of our operations with an amazing renewable energy project in India,” says Jasper Coffee Managing Director, Wells Trenfield.

Carbon offsets in addition to fairtrade organic products seems to be the right recipe for a coffee with no carbon. The next step will be for all coffee resellers to also run greener operations.

Every cup of coffee has a footprint. From now on every time you enjoy it, try to do it with conscience and think of your contribution to a sustainable future. So perk up, and don’t forget to switch off that light!

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More information about this topic in our food and drink section.

Written by Felicity Walker Paerce