A drink consumed by many globally, especially here in the States where 26M bags of coffee are consumed per year. We found that by using jars instead of plastic bags, our contribution to landfills could be reduced by 0.5Kg / year. Another way to put this is we will not be throwing out 36 plastic coffee bags this year (yes, I have a coffee problem!)

What We Did

Instead of buying plastic bags of coffee, we brought jars to our favorite cafes and asked if they could kindly fill them with beans. It’s a bit awkward at first, just because this isn’t common practice in our area, but the cafes quickly adapted to the request and fully support it. From there we would grind the beans ourselves (if they didn’t already come pre-grinded). Once at home we would store our jars in a cabinet and then voila, no plastic bag needed. We also took it a step further and kept our used grounds instead of throwing them out. We ended up composting, using the grounds as an exfoliant, or odor remover.

What Worked well

• Jars are cheap! we recommend reusing a jar from another item in your kitchen.
• it’s easy to maintain.

Challenges

• Limited options, since most grocery stores won’t let you just fill up on beans.
• Buying beans from cafes can be more expensive.
• Less convenient at times, especially if you’re used to using coffee pods.

Foreword

We’ve found the switch to jarred coffee beans works well for our house. It’s been about three months since we’ve made the change and we plan to keep it up. Have you tried something similar? Do you have any advice on how to reduce waste in our coffee routines? Leave a comment below.