Coffee Pods: A Trashy Dilemma

According to Vanessa Rancaño of the East Bay Express, "Single-cup brewing is the hottest and most lucrative sector of the coffee market nationwide, but it's also producing massive amounts of trash." Sales are projected to reach as much as $6.6 billion by 2016.  One of the main reasons this is such a phenomenon is that "single-cup systems offer a near-irresistible trifecta: convenience, consistency, and variety," says the East Bay Express. 

It is a toxic industry not just because hot, cheap plastic is released into your coffee with every serving, but the very convenience sell - the 'use it and toss it in the trash' selling point - is causing over 15 billion cheap plastic single-use containers to be thrown into the trash every year worldwide.  According to SmartPlanet.com's Bulletin, that equals 100s of millions of pounds of "pod" trash is entering landfills annually.  And this trash is NOT recyclable.  According to the website EnvironmentalLeader.com, an "estimated 9.1 billion single-serve coffee and drink cartridges wind up in US landfills alone, amounting to some 19 million cubic feet of waste."

How can we address this and make a difference?  Well, obvious answer is to wake up and (responsibly) dispose of that ridiculous single-cup coffee maker and start brewing freshly roasted, organic coffee!  (But we all know THAT's not going to happen).  Here are some more actually viable means to address this trashy dilemma:

1. Use a re-usable coffee pod made of BPA-free plastic, like the EkoBrew.  It's under $10 on Amazon.  You can put your own coffee in it (like Wise Coffee!) and it will be able to be used and re-used for a long time.  Keurig also sells a refillable K-Cup filter."
2. A company called OneCoffee is using biodegradable capsules.  Biome Bioplastics’ biodegradable coffee pods can also provide a sustainable packaging alternative.  Canterbury Coffee is a OneCoffee client.
3. Swiss Coffee Co. is also selling compostable capsules for its Beanarella brewing system.
4. Green Mountain Coffee Roasters subsidiary Keurig, "has been searching for a way to combat claims of unsustainability," Rancaño wrote. "In 2011, the company started a pilot-scale take-back program for corporate customers, where coffee grounds are sent to a compost facility and the rest of the materials incinerated in a waste-to-energy plant.

Beer v Coffee: Which Is Better for Your Brain to Be Creative?

According to Ryoko Iwata of the blog I Love Coffee, the answer might be… both! 

 

How it works:  Working in conjunction, if you have the blood alcohol level of 0.07 (about the equivalent to 2 8-oz beers), your cerebral cortex, which is responsible for conscious thought, language and interaction, frees up from its normal distractions that occupy your mind and block creative thought.  And BAM!  You’re creative.  Where does the coffee come in?  Well, when adenosine binds with its adenosine receptor, you normally will feel drowsy.  But, when you introduce caffeine, adenosine binds with the caffeine and 5 minutes later… BAM!  You have the ability to focus and the energy to act on your ideas.

What’s the best time to drink a beer?  When you’re looking for a creative thought.  And the best time to drink coffee?  When you have to have the stamina to execute those brilliant ideas!

So, what’s the downside?  Warns Iwata, “Drink too much of either and you’ll lose the benefits of both. (Everything in moderation, folks!)

Sexual Health and Coffee!

Hey, lovers!  Want a good night of sex?  Have a cuppa Joe!  According to researcher Dr. Tierney Lorenz of the Kinsey Institute at Indiana University, the caffeine from coffee stimulates your “fight or flight” reaction in your body – the same body heating, pulse racing reaction that primes your body for sexual arousal.  Dr. Lorenz explains that this reaction “potentially provides additional blood flow to your genitals.” 

Dr. Lorenz does point out some timing issues, though.  It takes approximately 15 minutes for the caffeine’s affects to surface, and they wear off in 2-3 hours.  She warns of the dangers of overdoing a good thing as well.  “Too much stimulation can suppress arousal and backfire.”  How much is good?  Stick to one [amazing] cup.*

Happy Valentine’s Day, coffee lovers!  Cheers!

______________________________

The Good Life March 1, 2014 issue, "The Link Between... Your Sexual Health and Your Morning Joe"

 

Fairtrade International introduces Standard for hired labour

Wise Coffee has a strict policy to have organic AND fairtrade certificates on file for ALL of the coffee that we roast and serve.  Fairtrade International just introduced a new Standard that makes positive steps towards making fair working wages and trade practices more achievable and enforceable.  Here is a link to an article that discusses this new Standard:

http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250&username=primecreative

You can also read the report on the new Standards on Fairtrade International's website:

http://www.fairtrade.net/fileadmin/user_upload/content/2009/standards/documents/generic-standards/2014-1-15_HL_FINAL_links.pdf

A Year of Beginnings

2013 was a pretty amazing year for Wise Coffee!  We started the process of building out our new roastery, got our plans turned in to the County (argh!  now it begins!), added some new WONDERFUL clients, and made some pretty incredible friends along the way.  You can find Wise Coffee now brewed and served at several LA foodie hubs, like Venice Alehouse, Bank of Venice, Red Bread, and the Larchmont to name a few.  (If you're experiencing a "have to have my Wise Coffee" moment, you can even buy our beans at Venice Alehouse and Red Bread).  We've grown our family (shout out to Megan - our partner and dearest friend - and fan), and we're looking forward to an unforgettable and groundbreaking 2014.

One of the most poignant metaphors/omens for this year included the vast number of butterflies that established themselves in our garden this year!  9+ caterpillars grew into butterflies right before our eyes - and they liked flying to (and landing on) Ryu (our roaster).  What a year!

Why Water Quality is SO Important

We've often mentioned and emphasized to our customers and readers the importance of water quality makes on the quality of the brew of ANY coffee.  One day, our roaster wanted to illustrate this point to us during a discussion and boiled down a gallon of tap water in a green ceramic pot.  This is a picture of what LA municipal tap water looks like when it's boiled down!  Massive mineral and chemical sediment remains that, if used to brew coffee, in the coffee that you drink as well. 

ALWAYS use clear, clean, FILTERED water. Respect the beans (and your health) and get the best possible brew every time.

TAKE ACTION! Still Time Left to Speak Out About FDA's Draft Guidance Forcing All Chickens to be Raised INDOORS!!

At Wise Coffee, we take our role as members of the organic, sustainable food movement very seriously.  Nothing is more important to us - and to our customers - than to provide a product that is unadulterated and produced sustainably and responsibly and in a way that protects our environment.  As part of what we do, we stay informed about the government's role in protecting - or potentially destroying - our efforts to maintain good and trustworthy food supplies.  It's our responsibility to speak out about injustices that we find and to call upon our customers, friends, colleagues and fellow members of the sustainable food movement to take action wherever possible.

In an article on NaturalNews.com entitled "FDA targets free-range, pastured poultry and eggs with ridiculous new draft guidance pushing for all chickens to be raised indoors," they expose an FDA threat to the pastured poultry and eggs.  According to NaturalNews.com, "America's small farmers are once again under attack, this time by a new draft guidance issued by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that threatens to eliminate truly free-range and pastured poultry and eggs. Entitled 'Questions and Answers Regarding the Final Rule, Prevention of Salmonella Enteritidis in Shell Eggs During Production, Storage, and Transportation,' the new agency report basically suggests that all egg producers with 3,000 or more laying hens be forced to raise their birds indoors to avoid bacterial contamination, which would eliminate consumer access to chicken and eggs from birds raised naturally outdoors on pasture."

If put into law, this change would effectively shut down the free-range and pastured poultry and egg small farmers throughout the United States!

The good news is that there is STILL TIME TO ACT!  "This new FDA guidance is only a draft," says NaturalNews.com, "which means the agency is still receiving public comments on the issue. This means that, as an advocate of natural health, you have the opportunity to help guide the process along and ensure that pasture-based egg and poultry producers are not unfairly targeted and forced to convert their methods to unscientific ones that have been concocted to reflect the interests of factory producers.

You can urge the FDA to reevaluate its position on pastured poultry and instead go after the factory-scale producers responsible for nearly all disease outbreaks by submitting a comment through the Federal Register. The FDA will accept public comments on this issue until September 23, 2013:
http://www.regulations.gov

You can also take action through this ANH-USA comment submission portal:
http://www.regulations.gov."

Please join Wise Coffee in taking action today.  Don't let this draft go through.  We have to work together to make sure that we protect pastured poultry from the irresponsible and profit-driven conventional factory farming practices that pervade throughout the US.

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/041996_FDA_free-range_poultry_pastured_chicken.html#ixzz2ed6JJVCC