The UK is becoming more and more a coffee loving country every day and slowly out sipping the humble mug of tea. If you were to ask any coffee drinker where their favourite cup of originates from, many will surprisingly not know. For a coffee drinker who prides themselves on a decent cup of fresh ground beans, knowing the location of where they originated from should be paramount.
Being confident in the origin is key in knowing that your mug of coffee has been ethically sourced and has been grown without the excess use of chemicals, while being Fair Trade. Of the countries that our favourites come from, whether it is Vietnam, Colombia or Indonesia, our coffee tends to be brought and distributed by major international companies. Such companies buy and sell at the expense of the farmers and farm hands, by underpaying them for their hard labour spent picking the individual beans. They then go on to sell these beans for an inflated price in our local supermarkets.
When you are next in the supermarket staring at the coffee shelves wondering which brand to buy, take a second and think of where it has come from. Consider how the coffee came to be in your basket but also of the consequences that follow if you were to purchase your chosen brand of instant or the environmental effects of drinking Nespresso pods.
Buy Fair Trade Coffee
When you are next browsing for a brand to sample at home, have a look out for the Fair Trade sticker. Making sure that your coffee is Fair Trade, you can be somewhat certain that it has been produced in an ethical manner. One of the more principle aims of Fair Trade is to end the poverty that surrounds the international coffee trade. An unreliable form of income, over 125 million people around the world rely on the coffee industry to survive. Yet with weather conditions and disease surrounding the industry, people are often left unable to earn when the plants stop producing.
Reuse coffee cups
If you prefer to enjoy a mug of freshly brewed coffee from your local independent shops, make sure that the company is using reusable mugs. If not be prepared to bring your own. With the rejected Latte Levy fresh in everyone’s minds, the importance of reducing our waste is more newsworthy now than ever. With thousands of cups being binned unnecessarily every day, by making sure that you do your bit, you can slowly one mug at a time reduce the number of cups making their way into landfills across the country.
Say no to coffee pods
With the sales of coffee pod machines rising in popularity, shy from the crowd and say no to the pods. Instead opt for freshly ground beans full with subtle earthy flavours. Similar to the waste epidemic of coffee cups, the number of pods that are going to the waste is now higher than ever. By making freshly ground coffee from an espresso machine or digging out your retro espresso cafeteria, you can have a delicious cup of your favourite hot drink without costing the earth!
If you want to start doing your bit for the environment and make one small change for a positive effect, we have the answer. With the help of the reusable Mighty Mug, you will never need to use a disposable cup again, reducing the amount of waste you add to the landfill. To buy a reusable mug that will never let you down, take a look at our fantastic collection. With a range of cool colours and sizes, we are confident that we have a coffee mug for you.