Last week I decided to review my morning routine and move towards more eco-friendly coffee and tea habits. After a turbulent week greening our daily movements, I felt that I needed some change that would shake me less. And indeed, this week went more smoothly than the last one!
7 ACTIVITIES TOWARDS SUSTAINABLE COFFEE AND TEA ROUTINE
I implemented the following activities to have eco-friendly coffee and tea habits:
1. Buying a travel mug for coffee and tea and a French press coffee maker to stop using the Nespresso machine
2. Brewing my coffee with my new French press
3. No more tea bags, but only loose tea
4. Taking my own containers to the store to buy loose coffee and tea
5. Buying organic bulk coffee
6. Using my new travel mug
7. If I don’t have a travel mug with me, I try to drink coffee in the shop, instead of taking it to go. If this isn’t possible, I at least refuse beverage lids.
PREPARING AT HOME FOR GREENER COFFEE AND TEA
At home, I had already dug out the empty coffee and tea containers that were hidden in the back of my highest kitchen shelf. My comfortable habit of using little tea bags and Nespresso capsules had made me withdraw these containers from my daily life. Although they are beautiful, as seen on the photo below:
I had known for a while that Nespresso capsules are difficult to recycle. Despite the fact that in Switzerland there is even special garbage collection for these capsules. But I told myself that as we buy aluminum and not plastic ones, and also recycle these, it is not so bad. I did learn only recently that tea bags also contain plastic. So when I decided to opt for greener living, I knew that I would need to change my consumption of hot beverages. It was time for sustainable coffee routine!
SHOPPING NEW EQUIPMENT
In the green spirit of combining my errands, I went with my two little ones to buy what I needed for introducing eco-friendly coffee and tea habits. We have a great shop for kitchen utensils nearby and I found the French press and a travel mug there. Max chose the mug, and I think he did a good job! Rick loves it as well:
SHOPPING FOR ORGANIC BULK COFFEE
Recently I also learned that it matters a lot what coffee I buy from a carbon footprint perspective. I wanted to have organic coffee that was not pre-packaged, so I went to eco store Satoriz. It did not disappoint me – they had different blends and a special machine to grind the coffee beans. This was something that my boys loved a lot! Yet my coffee container that I had taken with me remained unused. One needs to use their bag to weigh the coffee. However, I can take the same bag with me next time for a refill. So, new eco-friendly coffee and tea habits introduced and mission rather well accomplished!
BREWING MY ECO-FRIENDLY COFFEE AT HOME
Switching to brewing my coffee with a French press also went okay. It does take a bit more time, but not so significantly that it would interfere with my life. Indeed, I sometimes miss the cafe latte that I used to make, as the milk coffee with French press does taste differently.
But I think I am still also experimenting with milk/water/coffee powder rations, and I am sure I will find a combination I love! I saw at least that by the end of the week I loved my French press milk coffee—thanks to getting the ratios right, or because I got used to it, or both. And I can always enjoy a latte in a café, or on the go with my new travel mug.
USING MY NEW TRAVEL MUG
It felt weird first time to take my own mug and ask the café staff to put my coffee in it. At this moment, I felt self-conscious, and I was wondering why. I think it was because I was more or less the only one who did it. As other customers all opted for the paper cups, I stood out.
And I also believe that it has something to do with my past: the deficit years in the Soviet Union and the first few years of independence. At the time, when I was travelling, my family mostly always had our own food with us and could rarely afford to buy food and drinks at restaurants or cafes. As a kid, I felt jealous of those who went out to eat and hated to take my own food from my bag. It made me feel stigmatised and inferior to others. Some trace of that past must have remained. For instance, when I need to take something out from my own bag in a café—even if it is only a cup to be filled—the movement makes me uncomfortable at first.
To my surprise, it did not shock the waitress at all! I was clearly not the first one. As the day went on and I used the travel mug on other occasions, it felt more and more natural. And everywhere I did it, the staff was never surprised.
CHALLENGES
My sit-in coffee experience
Having not yet bought my travel mug, I kicked my week off with trying drinking my coffee in the café, rather than taking it to go. I chose Columbos café in Vitam Park centre for this occasion, before heading with my family to their indoor playground.
To my great surprise, they did not have ceramic cups for those who wanted to enjoy their coffee sitting in their café—they used the same paper ones! The only ceramic cups they had were for espresso, so my husband was lucky. I like though that in my region café staff do not put plastic lids on coffee cups anymore; they just showed me where I could find one if I wanted. So I did not have to refuse the lid, I just did not take one.
My husband and I wondered why they do not have bigger ceramic cups, but perhaps by accident I found the answer. I had had a short night and I was tired, so when I went to throw away the trash on our tray, I accidentally threw away my husband’s espresso cup too. When I apologised and wanted to take it out of trash, the waitress said no worries, she is used to that! So perhaps they have stopped using the ceramic ones because people were often throwing these into garbage…
Keeping up with some introduced changes
I feel many of the changes that I introduced during my water conservation week or when I focused on my daily movements are beginning to be embedded into my life. Yet there are also some that I struggle with. Regarding water conservation, the hardest change is to stop washing dishes with running water. As I have usually just a few things, I somehow just would like to wash them fast with running water.
Speaking of greener movements, I did not feel like taking Max to the baby gym by bike at all this week. As it was kind of cloudy and a bit rainy, right in the morning I asked my husband if he agrees that it is raining, to help me to rationalise myself out of it. Yet Max did not agree at all with the idea that we take the car. So I did go with bike, and it did not rain, and it was a great experience for me and Max!
I think on a few occasions over the last two weeks, I felt that I had entered what Leo Babauta calls Phase 2 of How Shift Happens in Our Lives. I was discouraged, tired, and I had a lot of going on professionally. If I had not committed myself to change and shared that commitment with you via this blog, I think I would already have lost the focus and would only practice green living “when I have time.” Thanks to doing it with you, I am still on track!
Respect the personal journey of other family members and embrace their change
In general, my children are embracing our more planet-friendly lifestyle. However, my oldest one Lev was very tired when I went walking to pick him up another day from the school with his scooter. He even mentioned that he does not like to help the planet and prefers that I pick him up by car!
My husband loves espresso, the Italian kind. He lived in Italy, and wherever possible, he likes to drink ristrettos in the morning. So I knew that the French press would not work for him, and I respect that he continues to use our Nespresso machine. Yet I see how my greener lifestyle also inspires him. Another day, he mentioned that he would like to switch to buying a new coffee machine to avoid using capsules. And when he came back from shopping last time, he was so happy as he told that our supermarket has now bio milk in environment-friendly packaging!
Going green and social media
Before starting my going green journey, I only used Facebook sometimes, and I very rarely used LinkedIn. I was not frequently on my phone or on computer when my children were around. In order to share more of my journey, I thus decided to open Twitter and Instagram accounts. It took time to find my way, especially with Instagram, and I have been on my computer and on social media much more than ever before.
A few days ago, when I was again on the computer, Lev came up beside me and took away my computer, saying: “I do not want you to work for the planet, I want you to work for your children!” I thus have to be careful how much I am on social media. It is important to be clear with myself and kids that it is not because of the planet that I am hooked on my computer, but my lack of discipline vis-à-vis social media use…
TIPS AND HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK
One of the lessons I learnt this week was:
• Change, but with reason and measure.
Although I decided to not buy tea bags anymore, but opt for loose tea, I did not buy tea this week, nor did I throw out my tea bags. One of the ultimate changes I aspire toward is to consume less, and only when indispensable. So I plan to use all of my existing tea bags first, and then buy loose tea.
Thanks for sharing all your experience. I have learned, that I can use the same tea up to 3 times. Green, black or white tea normally are infused for about 2 minutes only. There’s a lot of information on the web about how to do it properly. That way, I have diminished quite a bit my tea leave consumption. Used grounded coffee beans and tea, either bags or loose, are an important asset to your compost.
Thank you Maya for your comment and suggestions, I will try to implement both tips! I just installed the compost pin in the kitchen and will start to put then grounded coffee and tea there as well.
I’ve been eating lunch at my daughters place the other day and she had no coffee. There’s a place next door, where I could have gone to grab a coffee but my daughter didn’t have an appropriate cup I could have used. So I was a little ashamed to show up with a normal mug and dropped the idea. However, I will go through my cups at home and carry one with me when on my way. Thanks for having brought this up.
Hi Maya, thank you for sharing this moment at your daughter’s place! I forgot my reusable one also sometimes – if I have time, I try to then have sit-in coffee and sometimes I do take a single use paper one…Progress not perfection. And thank you for sharing how you felt about showing up in a mug different from ordinary customers – I also get that feeling of shame sometimes about being different. But it is interesting that often the staff who serves coffee are so cool and supportive when you go with a different mug.
Hi Nika, I liked a lot your post and your reflexions on Greener coffee habits made me realize the huge amount of waste I was generating by buying take-away coffee. So in fact I have stopped that altogether and try to only drink within the shop when ordering coffee now (in good old ceramic), thank you for that! The worse is they would often give you plastic and wood straws, tossed within 30sec to the garbage so I am a bit more eco-friendly now! Continue on the changes and being an inspiration 🙂 Jim
Thank you Jim for your comment! I am glad to hear that you have been able to change your coffee and tea habits to be more eco-friendly now. Your change is also inspiring me! This encourages me a lot when I have moments of doubt or I feel less enthusiastic about all the change involved in going green.