6 steps on how to go green with your coffee & tea

Inspired by planetgreen.com. Smart Planet wants to share how to go green on your coffee & tea. Below are a couple of ideas we'd like to share with you:

1. Local = good
   Support local, independent farms, cafés, and roasters. The least distance they travel to you, the more gas/energy/carbon footprint you save for this earth.
   
   
2. Reusable cups
   Invest on a reusable cup. If you are used to the look of the coffee cups they use at the coffee shops, you can actually find the reusable one like Smart Planet's Eco Coffee Cups.
   
   
3. Organic
   Coffee and tea that are grown and processed without toxic chemicals, protect our ecosystem hence good for our planet. Always go for coffee & tea that has organic certification.
   
   
4. Loosen up
   Tea bags and coffee filters can be useful but are mostly unnecessary. Great coffee can be made at home with a reusable filter or a stovetop espresso maker. A quality tea infuser can last a lifetime and replace an untold number of (questionably compostable) tea bags. If you do use filters and bags, look for biodegradable and unbleached ones.
   
   
5. Compost the roast
   Tea leaves and especially coffee grounds make outstanding compost. Coffee’s high nitrogen content has made it a fertilizer of choice since days of yore. Composting leaves and grounds helps keep organic waste out of landfills, makes great soil, and keeps waste baskets dry. If you don’t have a heap to toss it on, just spread coffee grounds on the top of your plants’ soil.
   
   
6. Share the good stuff
   A great way to get people appreciate your green way to enjoy coffee & tea is by passing the good stuff around. Gifts in forms of organic coffee or tea, or reusable cups could be a great start to tell your friends and family that there are products out there that can help to build better, greener, smarter Planet while making the coffee & tea experience still enjoyable!