What Does Coffee Mean in a Pandemic?
By: Ellie Baker
Tags: Cafe, Sustainability, Wellbeing, Coffee, Plastic

What Does Coffee Mean in a Pandemic?

Maybe it’s more than a habit.

I usually don’t have awkward encounters so early in the morning.

First, some context. Yesterday in Australia most businesses closed except essential services (i.e. supermarkets and healthcare). Cafés and such are still open for takeaway, but keep cups are banned.

Of course I’m supporting my favourite local café during this time by buying protein balls and other goodies. But because I refuse to put a cup in landfill, I’d resigned myself to going without the Gold Coast’s best chai for a while.

I also know coffee is a major part of that café’s business. So I was extra excited this morning when I saw their takeaway cups and lids were compostable…

Photo by Adnan Ahmed on Unsplash

The Baffling Encounter

“Hey guys!” I called, grinning in the café doorway. The customer, the barista, and the owner all looked at me. “Are you going to post about your compostable takeaway cups on social media? They’re fantastic!”

The silence stretched. I felt distinctly uncool. It was like I’d disrupted an invisible field of laser beams that was having all sorts of unseen effects. “I think that’s the least of people’s worries right now,” said the barista. The owner just looked as confused as I was.

I wish I’d said something like, “That’s the point! People don’t have to be worried about the environment and the pandemic, because you serve compostable cups.” Instead, I just left the shop.

Photo by Sarah Wardlaw on Unsplash

I’ve worked in hospitality for years, but I’ve never run a small business during a pandemic. I have the luxury of only imagining the stresses and uncertainties involved. So, I may not be in good company when I draw attention to eco-friendliness after a business has just started relying completely on takeaway orders.

Threatening business wasn’t my intention. I was just thrilled about the cups.

“After all, our morning cup of joe is supposed to help us take on the day — not destroy the planet.” — Florian

Should I Be Thrilled About Compostable Cups?

If you buy one cup of coffee in a disposable cup every day this year, you’ll generate 23 pounds (10.4 kilos) of landfill waste per year.

How many of us do this? What about several cups per day? Is it time to stop yet? We have the time to think about these things now.

We could even reconsider this word ‘disposable’. It’s sort of like ‘development’. Whether we’re imposing thousands of years of trash on the planet or replacing habitats with our concept of dwellings, both those words are misleading.

I want all cafés to survive this pandemic. So, buy your coffees. But here’s what you might want to know in the future (which will probably involve coffee), or if your favourite café already has compostable cups.

Put It In the Right Bin (They Don’t Advertise This)

There are three main kinds of cups in this world. The ‘disposable’ ones go to landfill. The ‘PE’-lined paper cups need a special recycling process. Then, there are ‘PLA’-lined paper cups, which are compostable.

But again, there is peril here if you don’t know the facts.

Compostable cups are special beings. They don’t compost in landfill. They can’t be recycled, because they’re covered in coffee. And, you’re better off shredding them for mulch than putting them in your home compost bin.

I found my journalism mojo and called the brand that makes my café’s cups.

Question everything.

I learned that compostable cups in fact belong in commercial composting sites rather than home bins. Relax! This is do-able! I called the local council, explaining that I was in fact a Golden Age child and wanted to compost my collection of compostable takeaway coffee exoskeletons.

The council directed me and my cups to the green waste section of any tip in the city. Any tip! Easy. My cups will become compost for farm crops.

My morning coffee will feed the nation.

The Takeaway

In all this uncertainty it’s important to appreciate our planet — it’s been here the whole time, after all — and align our rituals with it. Compostable coffee cups acknowledge the relationship our coffee culture has with the planet. It’s quite grounding (embrace the pun) and life-enriching to realise this.

I also appreciate the people at my favourite café. I’ll be back there tomorrow for a takeaway chai.