Ways to Reduce Waste During Your Morning Coffee Routine

I am a coffee snob and am proud of it. You will never catch me with a can of Folgers unless someone gifted me the can to repurpose. That being said, my morning coffee routine is one of the most important things I do every day, so it's serious business. It's also one way to produce a lot of waste over time.

My favorite way to make a cup (or 5) of coffee is through the pour over method with a Chemex. Although the Chemex does have paper filters and other supplies that can be composted, for someone who hasn't started composting (I know, I know. I will!) I wanted to find a way to make my morning coffee create a little less waste. In comes the Coffeesock, a reusable cotton filter that can last up to a year or more. At first, I was a little skeptical. The coffee aficionados of the world would probably curse this method, as cotton does soak up a lot of the coffee bean oil BUT it was an easy eco swap for me and my boyfriend, still makes a great cup of coffee and beats buying filters every month that literally go straight to the trash. I've used the Coffeesock for over a week now and can see myself buying it again in a year.

So part of being a coffee snob is not just being able to buy whatever coffee beans come in a plastic/aluminum bag from the grocery store, ESPECIALLY never pre-ground coffee. I typically buy local whole beans directly from the coffee shop or a local market. These beans do come in plastic coffee bags but most offer bulk beans which produce less waste over time. If you're in Atlanta, I would highly recommend buying beans from the following:

1. East Pole Coffee

2. Docent Coffee

3. Batdorf & Bronson / Dancing Goats Coffee

I grind my beans at home with an Encore Burr grinder. Personally, I think having your own coffee grinder does improve waste since you can grind to whatever method you are using and also scoop only the amount of coffee you are needing to use at a time. We also store our beans in a OXO coffee container that has specialized UV light protection as beans can go stale from sunlight very quickly. All of these methods above can also be used with other coffee makers, such as French Press, Aeropress and even your standard drip coffee.

Although I own all of these items, I am still creating some waste through the ingredients I put in my coffee like creamer and stevia as well as the coffee grinds themselves. I am hoping to cut down on that waste very soon by either just drinking my coffee black or finding alternatives that come plastic-free. I do use some of the grinds to create face/body masks by combining dry used grinds with coconut oil and have also heard grinds are great for gardens, soil and composting.

How do you take your coffee? Have you found ways to cut down your waste from your morning routine?