Coffee. So good, but oh so bad.
So its been a long time since I updated this blog. The main reason for that is that I was made redundant in December from my job at realestate.com.au and have been working on some personal projects with my friend Michael Little in our new joint prospect Fliquid Studios.
Anyway, enough plugging…
I am currently reading about my new solar prospects, I have just built a chicken coop (details in next post) and am planning my Vegie garden and rain water drip irrigation system. Details on all of these will be coming soon. Today’s post is about a big decision I made recently. To give up coffee. 
The reasons behind me giving up coffee are vast and include health, environmental and social problems. As I am not one to put my health before a good cup of joe, I’ll stick to the environmental and social issues that made this decision easy for me.
While I was aware of the claim that there are 2 ounces of carbon in every cup of coffee (due to the transportation and general manufacturing of the coffee after it has been harvested), it was this article by treehugger that pushed me over the edge.
Also, the social issues surrounding farmers who supply coffee. Most coffee growers in South America actually receive less than the cost of growing the coffee (Global Exchange Link). This includes those farmers who supply Starbucks and their shameful ‘Fair Trade’ claim (New Internationalist Article).
Lastly, and by far the biggest contributing factor for me to stop supporting the coffee industry as a whole, is the waste. The amount of cups used, daily, and then disposed of. It makes me sick. The image above is from Celina’s coffee cup project on Flickr and is worth a look. Sustainability Is Sexy has a table on the use of coffee cups daily.
Sorry for such a disjointed post. I have had a helluva night running after my almost-two-year-old while we had a ‘nice’ and ‘peaceful’ dinner for my brother-in-law’s 30th in their oh so child unfriendly house. I simply can’t stand by while the world implodes from excess waste and transportation for a stinking drink. Time for a cuppa.
Further Reading:
New Internationalist
No related posts.
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
