How United Baristas is working to reduce coffee’s carbon footprint
Exploring
United Baristas is exploring coffee’s carbon footprint from crop to cup to understand how the coffee community can take meaningful action to reduce our carbon footprint.
Recent Articles
The World is Getting Warmer – Graphic Evidence
In 2021 the world emitted near record levels of greenhouse gases.
Toby Weedon – It’s going to take innovation, diversity and collaboration to lower coffee’s carbon footprint
Head of the barista team at Oatly, Toby explains why plant-based foods are going to be key to tackling climate change
Lisa Lawson – Coffee’s sustainability journey can be supported by the B Corp framework
Dear Green founder explores how the industry can be more sustainable and why it’s not always easy having ‘green’ in your name
Ideas to help the coffee community succeed in 2022
We’re heading into the new year with ideas from some of the coffee community’s leading thinkers.
Sharing & educating
United Baristas communicates actionable information to coffee people at industry events, in interviews and through our new Coffee’s Carbon Footprint newsletter. Subscribe today.
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Resources
United Baristas Market gets valuable things (such as shops, equipment and parts) to coffee people who’ll get better use from them. And United Baristas helps business maximise the working-life of their coffee equipment. As well as supporting business, this reduces the industry’s carbon footprint.
Suitable for You?
Coffee Equipment for Sale on United Baristas Market
Four significant things
we can do right now
Choose oat milk
(or at least low-methane milk)
Reduce your flat white’s carbon footprint from 250 grams of CO₂e
– to as little as 50 grams.
Learn more why your milk selection makes such a massive difference.
Pay farmers more
Petrochemical fertilisers increase coffee growers’ yields, but are the single greatest cause of coffee’s carbon footprint at origin.
It’s possible to pay farmers more for reducing petrochemical fertiliser use. A higher price offsets lost income, plus it’s better for the land and lowers carbon emissions.
Find your local coffee roasters
The emissions from shipping coffee from the roaster to a shop (or your home) are typically greater than the emissions from roasting!
There are now hundreds of great roasters spread across the country. Buy coffee from one near you.
Use as little hot water as possible
Boiling your kettle is responsible for the majority of a brew’s carbon footprint, while a typical espresso machine uses 4x the average UK home’s electricity – does anyone else think that’s crazy!?
Heat as little hot water as necessary in your kettle, plus here’s some ideas for baristas to reduce the electricity used by their espresso machine.
Our footprint
United Baristas has reduced the carbon footprint of our services by over three-quarters per user since 2018.
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Not yet part of the United Baristas community?
Find out how United Baristas helps coffee people and businesses do amazing things ☕️⚡️