Do you think about the planet when you buy things? Probably. It’s almost impossible these days to be unaware, or not care, about issues related to global warming. It seems natural to think about the planet when you buy a car, or a big kitchen appliance. Some of us even think of the planet when we buy our coffee – is it Organic? Shade Grown? But do you think about the machine that roasted your coffee, and its impact on the planet? Does it pollute the air? Does is suck down power derived from fossil fuels? Joel Starr, in the September 2007 Tea & Coffee Trade Journal http://www.allbusiness.com/environment-natural-resources/pollution-environmental/5523090-1.html observes that “In fact, it’s a safe assumption that coffee roasters and retailers at home, not producers at origin, are responsible for most of the pollution that coffee consumption produces (namely CO2 emissions from the roasting of the coffee and billions of one-time-use, disposable paper cups lids, stir-sticks, etc.). This has to do with many factors, not the least of which is the artisanal roasters preference for “drum” and “fluid-bed” type roasting machines, which have essentially not changed in decades. That is not to say that these machines haven’t improved, they just haven’t “gone green.” “ I’d venture to say not many coffee drinkers think about this particular issue.
In setting up our new roasting business, however, we did think about it. Our new roaster, or ”Rosie” as she’s been affectionately named here, is one of a kind in the world (right now), and probably about the most eco-friendly roaster on the planet. Our friend Dan Joliff of U.S. Roaster Corp http://www.usroastercorp.com built the Revelation roaster using advanced technology that virtually eliminates emissions and reduces power consumption to a fraction of a traditional roaster. We were happy to partner with Dan to input to the design and be the first guinea pig, er, customer, for this exciting new machine that we think will take the roasting community by storm. We hope he sells a lot of them!
So when you sip a cup of our coffee, you can do so knowing that you’ve done just a little bit more for the planet than was possible a month ago.
