Transcript:Go Green With Your Morning Coffee

Hi my name is Danielle Lessovitz for About.com and this is where I usually drink my morning coffee, in my car on the way to work. I can only imagine the number of empty cups and lids I have thrown out over the years. In my attempt to become a more eco-friendly person, it seemed only natural to start here, with my morning coffee. Today, I am going to show you how to go green with your morning coffee.

Brewing Eco-Friendly Coffee

Let us begin at home and brew ourselves a green cup of coffee note, actually color will remain the same. Our first step is to choose the coffee beans, this part is really important so no nodding off.

Coffee beans come in all shapes and sizes but the ones that come in packages which say rain forest allegiance, sustainable development, or fair trade mean that no forests have been destroyed to grow them and that the local people are getting a fair market price for their work, which is always a good thing.

Use Reusable and Recyclable Coffee Materials

Once you have the beans the next step is to insert a stainless-steel filter into the machine, pour in the coffee beans, the water, brew, and enjoy. Instead of throwing out the old coffee beans, you can use them in your compost, garden or donate them to someone else’s garden. Maybe they will give you a tomato or two.

Eco-Friendly Coffee on the Go

Now let’s go green with that cup of coffee we buy to go. But before you go, that is, before you even leave the house, you need one thing, and that is this guy. He will come in handy in just a bit. Okay now we can go. Once you have arrived the counter of your preferred coffee shop go ahead and order your regular drink be it cup of drip coffee to an extra-hot non-fat mocha-chino latte with three pumps of vanilla syrup.

Just show the barista your cup and they will know what to do. Just make sure the barista pours the drink into your mug. If you are feeling extra eco-friendly you can go ahead and order a cup of fair trade coffee. Most coffee shops including Starbucks will actually brew a special cup just for you at no additional charge. Not bad a system.

And with that you are ready to start your day the eco-friendly way.