Sustainability isn't a line we've crossed, but a journey we're all on.
We have just celebrated Matariki (Puanga) marking the Māori new year in Aotearoa. It is a time of new beginnings - an opportunity to lay down the old and take hold of the new. Pipiri ki a Papatūānuku is a movement that encourages individuals, whānau and other groups from both Aotearoa and around the world to dedicate just one lunar cycle to our taiao (environment).
Matariki this year also fell across #plasticfreejuly a world-wide movement encouraging people to be part of the solution to plastic pollution. This comes on the back of the Government’s recent announcement to phase out the use of certain single use plastics over the next four years.
All that’s to say, it’s a good time for all of us to think about the impact that we are having on the environment and what we might need to change in the year ahead.
// Common Good Coffee 3kg Reusable Bag made by Freeset, supplied by Liminal Apparel (Photo by Hayden Brown)
For us at Common Good Coffee, there’s many ways that we are trying to reduce our use of plastics and inorganic waste - choosing not to have branded takeaway cups (compostable or otherwise), giving customers the option to use reusable containers for their beans in-store, and using reusable packaging for many of our commercial customers. We’d love to say that we’ve got it totally sorted - but we know that there’s more that we could be doing.
// Atmos Vacuum Coffee Canister (Photo by Hayden Brown)
One of the main ways that Common Good Coffee could make a significant impact is by switching the remainder of our packaging to be more sustainable.
But that can be easier said than done. Wading through all the “green washing” is hard work. There is a growing trend towards compostable packaging. However, when packaging is labelled as “compostable”, this typically means that it is commercially compostable.
If packaging is only commercially compostable, then customers would need access to a commercial compost to make it viable. When commercially compostable packaging ends up in landfill it will release methane, which is far more harmful for the climate than CO2.
//A pile of compost (Photo by Edward Howell)
Even saying that material is “home compostable” doesn’t mean that it will - because “home compostable” means that it will break down in specific home composting conditions. Not all home composts are created equal.
On one end of the scale is the pile of organic waste dumped in a corner of the garden and left to itself and then at the other end is the carefully monitored and maintained system that ensures that conditions are ideal for materials to break down.
Around the world, including in Aotearoa, there is increasing research to see how various home compostable packaging actually fares in a range of home composts.
Another challenge (which isn’t a deal breaker) for us is that the best compostable packaging breaks down quickly - which is what we want it to do! Except that with the current size of our business, and the minimum order requirements a bunch of packaging will be past its use by date before we use it. Which means that we will have wasted a lot of resources.
Of course there are also recyclable packaging options. But this comes with its own sets of challenges.
This possibly sounds like a list of excuses - but they are pros and cons that can have significant environmental impact.
We need to make wise decisions that are actually good, not ones that just look good in our marketing.
Since Common Good Coffee began we’ve been looking at both NZ-based and overseas suppliers for a solution to our packaging problem. And we’re getting closer to finding one.
It’s highly likely that in the short-term we will have to settle for a better option rather than the perfect one in order to eliminate our use of single-use plastic. Sustainability isn’t a line we’ve crossed, but a journey that we are on.
Watch this space.
The team at Common Good Coffee are committed to reducing our plastic waste.
