Tackling Climate Change

United Baristas is working to cut coffee’s carbon footprint, from crop to cup.

Climate change makes coffee farming increasingly difficult

Understand the impacts

Coffee both contributes to global warming and is impacted by climate change

Coffee shops can cut emissions by using new technologies and revising operations

Industry action

We've cut our carbon footprint by over 75 percent per user since 2019

Our carbon footprint

Drinkers can halve their coffee's footprint

Actions for coffee drinkers

Scientists from London's Kew Gardens explain how climate change is impacting coffee growing.

Climate change impacts coffee farms

Changes in temperature and rainfall increase pestilence and reduce yield

Suitable growing conditions shift to higher, cooler elevations

Some of the most-common coffee varities are trickier to grow

Video

Carbon Footprint

What's your coffee's carbon footprint?

Greenhouse gases are emitted during growing, processing, roasting and shipping as well as preparation.

A flat white's has a carbon footprint of about

grams CO₂e per cup

Carbon Footprint

Calculating coffee's carbon emissions

The main contributors to a flat white’s carbon footprint are milk and electricity.

Milk comprises about 3/4 of a flat white's carbon footprint

Milk

European dairy milk has a carbon footprint of ~1.6 Kg per litre making it the single greatest component of coffee's carbon footprint. In fact, it's about 75% of a flat white's total emissions. The good news is you can easily cut these these emissions by 50%.

Read Milk Matters

~50% of an espresso shot's emissions are from electricity

Espresso Machine

Most espresso machines are inefficient, some models consume more electricity annually than an average UK home. Coffee shops can cut these emissions through a combination of new technologies and operational change as well as green electricity.

Read Hot Stuff

Cutting coffee's carbon footprint

Meaningful & viable carbon reductions

Coffee shops can cost-efficiently reduce their coffee’s carbon emissions by over 50%.

Product & Pricing

Low carbon milks

Source low-methane dairy, plus price alt-milk for profitability and sustainability.

Let's make the alt-milk charge fit for purpose

Technology & Training

Energy-efficient espresso machines

Cut your electricity bills, and your emissions, with a new-generation espresso machine.

Tips for buying an espresso machine

Supply Chain

Green coffee sourcing

The carbon footprint varies widely depending on the farm planting system, coffee variety and process method.

Understanding green coffee calculations

Understand and cut coffee's carbon footprint

United Baristas Services

Concerted industry action

Use United Baristas to choose equipment that’s right for you. Plus, finance energy-efficient upgrades and keep equipment in use for its full working life.

United Baristas Equipment

Source & service coffee equipment

Shortlist products suitable for you, view secondhand options, explore companies selling new, plus keep your equipment in good working order.

Equipment

United Baristas Marketplace

Buy & sell directly with other baristas

Baristas and business use Marketplace to buy and sell used coffee equipment, coffee businesses, crockery, and – in fact – anything coffee related.

Marketplace

United Baristas Directory

Engineering excellence

Identify engineers near you to service your coffee equipment. Plus, learn tips to maintain equipment yourself.

Engineers

United Baristas Finance

Upgrade your coffee equipment, boost business profitability

Integrated finance options to help companies upgrade to more energy-efficient and productivity enhancing coffee equipment.

Finance

Cut your brew's footprint

Coffee's carbon footprint

You can cut your coffee’s carbon footprint by over 50% with these straight-forward changes.

Choose your milk

Reduce your flat white’s carbon footprint from 250 grams to under 100 grams.

Read Milk Matters

Find your local roaster

The emissions from shipping coffee 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. Heat as little hot water as necessary in your kettle.

Read Hot Stuff

Pay for quality

Coffee grown in mixed planting scheme and naturally processed typically have a lower carbon footprints.

Learn about the carbon footprint of green coffee

United Baristas

Our footprint

We have reduced the carbon footprint of our services by more than three-quarters per user since 2019.

United Baristas started in 2015 with Marketplace.

Our ambition was to lower the industry’s environmental impacts by keeping coffee equipment in use for its full working life.

Marketplace grew quickly

By 2019 hundreds of espresso machines were changing hands on Marketplace each year.

It felt like we were making meaningful progress towards our goals.

But calculating the benefit was tricky. There isn't good information on coffee equipment's emboided carbon.

We estimated the emissions from running our online services to be about six tonnes in 2018/19.

tonnes

United Baristas was clearly making a positive impact; but our carbon footprint was too high.

Over the next 12 months we implemented technical changes so our carbon emissions per user reduced by 75% compared with August 2019.

In 2021, we moved to servers powered by renewable energy.

We subsequently reduced emissions by a further 50% per user with the better processing user-generated content.

There's still much to be done.

We continue to cut the carbon footprint of our services.

Plus, we're working to help coffee businesses, baristas and coffee drinkers cut their carbon emissions.

Cutting coffee's carbon emissions

And we're still asking equipment manufacturers to calculate and communicate each product's energy efficiency and emboided carbon.

Articles

Think global, act daily

Coffee is contributes to global warming and is impacted by climate change. This collection compiles articles exploring causes and impacts from crop to cup.

Explainers

Ending the sugar rush

Coffee, no sugar please

Unlike the chains, specialty coffee has dramatically reduced the sugar intake of its customers. Further reductions can increase margins, reduce emissions and enhance health.

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