sustainability tips

How to Find Sustainable Coffee Shops

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sustainable coffee shop

People are looking for all the ways they can reduce their carbon footprint: driving electric cars; buying alternative home fuel. One small way to lower one’s carbon footprint gaining popularity is seeking out sustainable coffee shops.

A sustainable coffee shop goes beyond being a coffee shop that recycles its garbage. They are committed to keeping their waste and carbon footprint very low. If you’re trying to find a coffee shop committed to sustainability then here is everything you need to know from what to look for in such a shop to how to find one.

What a Sustainable Coffee Shop Does

A sustainable coffee shop will engage in practices that set it apart from regular coffee shops. Here are some of the practices that you can immediately notice about a coffee shop to tell you whether or not it is running on a sustainable model.

An Emphasis on Recyclable Materials

One of the most obvious signs of a sustainable coffee shop will be a reliance on recyclable materials. So many coffee shops utilize coffee cups that are made of paper, save for a thin veneer of plastic that coats the cup’s interior. A sustainable coffee shop would be using totally recyclable coffee cups.

Instead of plastic trays and cutlery, they may place an emphasis on cardboard trays or wooden cutlery. They would also be using absolutely no Styrofoam as it is a non-recyclable material. You will likely not find any plastic drink stirrers either. For stirring you’ll find they use good old-fashioned metal or wood spoons.

Contributing to Recycling Efforts

One of the easiest things to notice about a coffee shop to determine whether or not it is sustainable is if there is an active emphasis on recycling. It does not simply mean that there are recycling bins, but that they are giving clear instructions on what items you have in your order that can be placed in those bins.

Bring Your Own Cup Incentives

One mark of a coffee shop that is dedicated to the ideals of sustainability is the BYOC (bring your own cup) incentive. There are coffee shops that offer a discount to customers willing to bring in their own coffee cups rather than use the disposable options from the shop. This practice not only saves you a little bit of money, but also water.

Do They Use Sustainable Coffee Brands?

There are numerous brands of coffee on the market that have made a commitment to being sustainable and environmentally friendly. You may have to ask around at different shops to purchase their supply from sustainable brands.

What makes coffee sustainable?

A coffee brand is sustainable if it makes the living conditions for the environment and people who cultivate it better. The sad truth of the coffee industry is that many of the farmers who grow and cultivate coffee face poverty. Buying from brands that pay farms fairly is an important marker of sustainability.

Coffee brands that are made from coffee farmed on land that promotes biodiversity are also important. Most coffee farms tend to rely on pesticides and other chemicals that can harm local wildlife. A sustainable farm finds concessions to promote biodiversity so that the growing of coffee beans is a process that does no harm.

Another mark of a sustainable coffee shop is whether or not they place emphasis on using paperless receipts. If they participate in compost programs in your area is also a fantastic sustainable move they will likely make. They will also use either reduced lighting or LED-based lighting to cut back on energy use and promote energy efficiency. There are even coffee makers and espresso machines that are designed to use minimal amounts of energy.

How do I find a sustainable coffee shop?

As with most things these days, if you want to find something you usually want to start with the internet. Coffee shops with sustainability as a point of conduct will typically advertise themselves as such. You can also call around to various coffee shops in your area and ask them directly if they are sustainable. However, this is a benefit that is typically only available to those who live in big cities.

The sad truth is that if you live in a small town, then your local coffee shop is still your best source of coffee. Driving a considerable distance to find a coffee shop that is sustainable burns more gas, which goes against the entire point of sustainability. However, if you are going on vacation or traveling for some other reason you can always have sustainable shops marked for your destinations.

There are also online resources that can help you find sustainable coffee shops. These lists are always updated as shops open and close, so you can stay up to date on the locations you may want to visit. Social media is also a great, real-time solution to finding sustainable coffee shop options.

What You Can Do

If you do not have any sustainable coffee shop options in your area, you may feel somewhat defeated on the subject. That does not mean that you should give up. If you don’t mind stirring the (coffee) pot a little bit, then you can start asking your local coffee shop what they do to be sustainable. Use it as a conversation starter. Make suggestions. If your local shop does not have a “bring your own cup” incentive, then suggest one.

The most important thing you can do is get the word about sustainability and what it can do for the planet, and how even your morning cup of coffee plays a part. The more that people learn about sustainable coffee, the more likely they will be to ask for it in their local coffee shop.

5 Most Common Eco-Friendly Products for Everyday Use

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A family using eco-friendly products

Global warming is increasing, and the circumstances surrounding it are also getting worse and worse. According to the UN landmark report, it’s the “code red for humanity” because of frequent and intense heat waves and rising sea levels. Still, when it comes to climatic changes, the majority of end-users, especially the older generations, put their money where their mouth is. Fortunately, that’s not the case with millennials, as 68 percent of them prefer eco-friendly products. If you’re concerned about global warming, then you’ve come to the right place. We’ve compiled a list of the best and most common eco-friendly products that you can buy for everyday use. Let’s get started.

Rechargeable Batteries

Batteries have become essential household items. Yet, a range of different chemicals are used to make batteries, and most of them are toxic. Not only are these chemicals harmful to the soil, but they can also cause water and air pollution. Consider using rechargeable batteries to keep them from landfills by prolonging their usage. You might need to pay more for rechargeable batteries, but in the long run, you’ll be able to save a lot by helping the environment at the same time.

Check Prices on Amazon

Eco-Friendly Toothbrush

BPA (Bisphenol-A) can cause infertility, and it’s usually found in plastic. You can now easily find toothbrushes with BPA-free soft bristles and handles made of bamboo. These toothbrushes also have plant-based packaging, and they can easily last as long as traditional plastic-made toothbrushes do. Not only do these toothbrushes help you play your part to save the planet, but they also keep you from medical conditions caused by BPA.

Check Prices on Amazon

Reusable Grocery Bags

We use about 500 billion to one trillion plastic bags across the globe every year. Carrying a reusable shopping bag is an easy way to help create a sustainable society. It’s important to note that some malls and big grocery stores have already stopped offering plastic bags to discourage their use. The trending reusable grocery bags such as Tote bags also allows you to stay fashionable. 

Check Prices on Amazon

E-Reader

If you’re an avid book reader and a fan of paperback, then you might be negatively affecting the environment. You can eliminate this possibility by getting an e-reader. Kindle is one of the most popular e-readers available in the market, and it’ll come in handy if you frequently buy new books. It allows you to buy any book you want whether you’re interested in the best books about money or on any other subject. Most importantly, you won’t be harming trees this way. 

Check Prices on Amazon

Organic Dish Towels

Instead of using paper towels, you can now opt for 100 percent organic dish towels made of cotton. You can wash them multiple times by throwing them in your washing machine as well, just like any other cloth, to reuse them again. 

Check Prices on Amazon

Final Words

There are many other common eco-friendly products out there as well to replace your everyday items. These are the most common ones to get you started. You can start using these products right now on a daily basis to play your part in conserving the environment. 

You may also check 5 Best Green Products for Everyday Use!

How to Make Sustainable Money from Home

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A man sitting in his office making money from home

Making a quick buck is something everyone looks to do. However, how many people think about making sustainable money from home? A steady stream that will keep you good for a long time?

If that’s what you’re looking for, you’re in the right place.

Earning money online asks for discipline, devotion, and the right mindset. Working remotely is a growing trend too that’s enabling the ability to earn money remotely. More and more people use remote incomes to pay their bills and college fees. 

But how do you do it sustainably? So you’re not only improving your earning potential, but you’re helping the environment and society in the process. Let’s talk about how to make sustainable money from home online. 

Best Ways to Follow a Sustainable Lifestyle and Earn Money 

1. Online Jobs 

Monetizing creative skills is as simple as you imagine it to be. You can have many online opportunities that you can try. First, learn the basics by choosing an area of interest. Then, get yourself on a platform – whether it’s a blog or a website. Once you’ve done that, you can earn greater revenues by getting audiences to click on ads placed on your website, blog, or videos. 

2. An “Eco-Friendly” Agency

Ever planned to venture out and let the entrepreneur in you out? Think about a business plan that not only brings you a good amount of revenue but also improves your quality of life. For instance, run your own biodegradable tote bag business, or start a blog on green savings or a side hustle that’s all about being organic. 

3. “Recycling” Is Your Best Friend

What if we told you that you could earn by recycling? You can help the planet and earn some bucks. Selling or buying your preloved clothes at good prices is something worth looking into. It will also allow you to recycle and declutter the things that you have lying around at your home. 

4. Grow Some Plants And Seeds

Make a sustainable living by selling your stunning perennials, ornamental trees, organic seeds, or whatever else you can come up with. Discover what might grow well and have the commercial sense to sell. 

5. Thinking Out-Of-The-Box

Sometimes, you feel stuck with messy thoughts and no solution to make a living. At such times, think outside the box and make a way out by using household items! You can have a steady income stream by turning your old clothes into bags, making jewelry out of unusual materials, and selling these online. There you go, greater inventiveness is on your way!

Bottom Line

What makes you stand out from the rest is the will to give back to the community. A sustainable future is possible if we bring in integrity, ethics, and compassion together. With a little research, you will find individuals and organizations like you out there who are dedicated to “green solutions.” Spruce up your resume and give your luck a try. A whole lot of dreams are waiting to be aimed at and fulfilled!

5 Best Green Products for Everyday Use

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Green Products for Everyday Use

If you know anything about environmental hazards, you’ll know that a major contribution to environmental damage comes from families and homeowners. If you look closely, you’ll find that the plastic cutlery, latest apps to achieve financial goals, lead-based items, microbeads-containing cosmetics, and a variety of other materials in your house do more harm than good. Check the best green products for everyday use below.

Sure, they may be cheap and efficient, but that doesn’t outweigh their long-term environmental consequences. But what if you decide to go eco-friendly? Will you still have all the gadgets? 

Sure, you will? In fact, you’ll even find better alternatives for the current gadgets you use. Here are some of the best green gadgets that can bring down your negative environmental impact:

1. Sodastream Fizzi Sparkling Water Maker

Each day, millions of plastic bottles end up in landfills, roadside dumpsters, on seashores, and often inside the tummy of large marine animals. So, the next time you feel the urge to buy a bottle of sparkling water, just hold yourself back and go for the Sodastream Sparkling Water Maker instead! 

With returnable and recyclable CO2 cylinders and a BPA-free design, you can stir up a bottle of sparkling water right at home. Not only is this environmentally friendly, but it’s also way cheaper than buying readymade sparkling water each time!

2. Philips Hue Bulbs

Harsh, yellow light bulbs are old news. Instead of investing in these energy wasters, you can look for high-quality LED bulbs, such as these Philips Hue Bulbs. 

Besides consuming lesser energy, these bulbs also:

  • Avoid heating up the room
  • Give a much brighter light
  • Last longer
  • Reduce electricity bills
  • Are available in changing colors

3. Rachio 3 Smart Sprinkler Controller

Most sprinkler systems today are automatic or semi-automatic but still consume a lot of water. But what if you have an intelligent sprinkler system? What if your system takes care of all the adjustments on its own when you’re busy or away from home?

The Rachio Sprinkler Controller takes web-based weather updates and predictions and adjusts water requirements and distribution without needing any intervention from you. Talk about convenience!

4. Google Nest Thermostat

Google has one of the smartest and easiest-to-use Wi-Fi programmable thermostats for home use. It can work with Alexa and is programmable remotely as well.

The Google Nest Thermostat has Energy Star certification, which means it functions according to some pretty stellar energy-conservation standards. The thermostat:

  • Comes with a remote control
  • Turns itself down whenever you’re away
  • Has a Savings Finder to help you tighten up your energy expenditure as cleverly as possible
  • Sends red alerts to notify if something’s wrong in your HVAC system

5. Force of Nature Non-Toxic All-Purpose Cleaner

Phenyls and acids and bleaches, and commercial grade cleaners lead to the eventual destruction of your home’s environment. They’re too harsh and chemically active, so families looking for a safer and eco-friendly option can turn to Force of Nature’s fantastic solution!

This gadget creates electrolyzed solution from vinegar, salt, and water within no time and gives you the perfect all-purpose cleaner with zero toxic additives.

Final Words

Shifting to eco-friendly gadgets can be really dicey. You have to research well before investing in such a different lifestyle. However, these top five picks are some of the most trusted and widely used green products for everyday use, so you can use them without any difficulties!

4 Sustainable Lifestyle Changes That Save You Money

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Sustainable Lifestyle changes to save money

Everyone wants to have a positive impact on the world, but sometimes it feels like living a sustainable lifestyle is only for the wealthy. But the ads you see for expensive “green” products or organic produce don’t tell the whole story.

They don’t even tell the best story. The most effective sustainable lifestyle changes are free and save money in the long run.

Reduce Food Waste

Keep an eye on what you’re throwing away. 165 billion pounds of food are thrown away in the United States each year. That food represents meals that could have fed hungry families and has a significant environmental impact.

Energy and water are used to produce food, even if it isn’t eaten. Wasted food is wasted resources. Discarded food goes into landfills and produces 34% of emissions of the greenhouse gas methane in the U.S.

The solution is to buy what you need and eat what you buy. Finish up those leftovers and keep an eye on your produce so it doesn’t go bad.

Reduce Energy Consumption

Decreasing the amount of energy you use during a regular day is remarkably quick and easy. Each of these small things contributes to sustainability and saves money.

  • Turn down the thermostat. A reduction of even one degree can reduce your heating costs by 10%
  • Turn off unused lights and appliances
  • Don’t use your dryer for every load of laundry—air-dry clothes instead
  • Walk or ride your bike to do errands instead of driving
  • Turn off the water while you scrub your hands or brush your teeth
  • Take shorter showers
  • Turn down your water heater from 140 degrees to 120 degrees—most people won’t notice a difference and it saves both energy and money

Most people can make some, if not all, of these energy-saving changes. Living a sustainable lifestyle is a group effort and every change adds to the greater goal.

Reduce Plastic Use

Plastic pollution not only sits in landfills for centuries, but it also clogs waterways and devastates sea life. But you can reduce your contribution to the problem and become part of the solution by taking some relatively simple steps.

  • Do not use single-use plastic bags—carry compact reusable bags
  • Do not use plastic straws. This is not a political issue, it’s a simple way to reduce plastic pollution
  • Avoid products in plastic containers. This seems tricky, but simple things like using bar soap instead of liquid soap reduce plastic waste and save money
  • Carry reusable glass water bottles instead of buying bottled water

Reduce Consumption

Living a sustainable lifestyle means knowing when to reuse, repurpose, swap, or borrow instead of buying new things that add to the planet’s collective clutter.

Use your local library. Buy clothing and other household goods used at local thrift shops and yard sales. Borrow and lend tools and infrequently used items. And finally, think before you buy. Saving money and saving the planet go hand in hand when you know how to live a sustainable lifestyle.

Related Reading: 4 Easy Ideas to Reduce Your Food Waste

6 Ways to Make Your Coffee Habit More Sustainable

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Make Your Coffee Habit More Sustainable

Coffee is the second most sought after commodity in the world. There is no denying that coffee has a large impact on the environment. Unfortunately, that impact is mostly negative. Many factors involved in coffee consumption and production are harmful to our planet. However, this does not mean that we have to give up our daily coffee. Instead, we can become more mindful and make small adjustments to make our coffee habit more sustainable.

1. Coffee beans

Buying coffee beans is the first step you can change to make your coffee habit more sustainable. The choice you make when selecting coffee beans can make the most significant contribution to your sustainability efforts. This will not only influence what type of coffee production you support, but also the social and economic effect on the coffee producers. Therefore, you should pay attention to labels that are Fairtrade or organic. By opting for Fairtrade coffee, you can support coffee farmers around the world and help protect the environment. You should also buy your coffee beans locally to reduce negative environmental effects of transportation.

2. Use more sustainable preparation methods

There are a lot of different methods and appliances to prepare your coffee. However, some of these appliances create an incredible amount of waste. Pod-machines, such as Nespresso, consume a lot of energy and produce waste that often cannot be recycled. More sustainable alternatives include drip coffee makers, the French press or aero press. If you prefer filter coffee, you should use reusable filters that are made out of metal or cloth. This will prevent additional waste from paper filters.

3. Buy a reusable coffee cup

Many coffee shops sell coffee in single-use plastic cups. These cups are not very environmentally friendly as they are often not recycled properly. If you are prone to buying takeaway coffees, you should bring your own refillable cup or flask. Coffee shops usually offer incentives for customers who do this and you may even get a discount on your coffee. However, if a disposable cup is unavoidable, you can use a 100% compostable coffee cup.

4. Reuse coffee grounds

Reusing coffee grounds does not necessarily mean putting them back into your coffee machine. To get as much use as possible out of your purchase, you can use the grounds for other benefits. Coffee grounds can act as a skin exfoliator, plant fertilizer and deodorizers for your fridge.

5. Milk and sugar dispensers

In order to avoid additional waste, you can use glass dispensers for your sugar. Single packaged coffee creamer and sugar creates a lot of harmful waste in the environment. By switching to glass containers, you not only reduce waste but you can also recycle them once you are finished with them.

6. Dispose of coffee grounds in compost bins

Approximately 6 million tonnes of coffee grounds get sent to landfills every year. To prevent coffee ground build up, you should use a compost bin to dispose of your grounds. These must be composted for around 100 days before you can use them as fertilizer. 

Related Reading: Coffee Brewing Method and Health – What You Need to Know

4 Energy Apps To Help You Go Green and Spend Less Green

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Energy apps to go green and save more green

Saving energy and saving money are hot topics in today’s economic climate. Isn’t it amazing if you can control both from the palm of your hand?

You might not realize it, but having a smartphone is good for more than making calls, checking emails, and playing games. You can use it to track energy efficiency and save on electricity bills using innovative mobile apps. Renewable energy apps can be of great help for how to save energy and money in your home.

Technology can help you live a more sustainable life. Here is a list of energy apps that will help you adopt green living and a more mindful lifestyle.

 Energy Consumption Analyzer

This app works as a mobile database of your home energy use. It’s easy to lose track of your energy consumption until you get an unpleasant bill. Energy consumption analyzer provides accurate readings of your daily energy consumption. You can add your meters for electricity, gas, or water to the database and keep track of current meter readings.

The energy consumption analyzer lets you color-code readings and add comments to them for better understanding. The application asks you to input data from your meter and calculates the average consumption rate. It then displays a bar graph or table of the total amount of actually used energy during a day, week, or month to help you gain insights and view trends.

Energy Cost Calculator

While trying to cut down your energy consumption, it’s necessary to know how much energy you are using. Through the Energy Cost Calculator, you can calculate energy usage and operating cost of electrical equipment you use. It helps you analyze which appliances in your home use the most energy. 

This application lets you know how much an appliance costs to run over a period and allows you to control it. You can calculate the running cost of an appliance by entering the wattage and how often you use it. The results are not 100% accurate, as it does not have access to your tariff information, but it gives you an idea.

Energy Tracker

Energy tracker can evaluate and manage meter reading according to your electricity, gas, heat, and water consumption. It automatically detects meter readings and dates to provide a graphical analysis of daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly consumption.

Energy tracker knows where you can save money by creating a report. It makes an estimate by comparing daily and monthly trends throughout the year. All data is saved to the application and will provide you with exclusive CSV reports on your energy consumption at home.

Smappee

Smappee manages your energy flows in a way that you can work, relax, and live without compromising on comfort. It gives you a clear insight into your energy consumption, and you can leave your home without any worries. Let the app control and automate your energy flows.

It provides you real-time readings for electricity, gas, water, and solar consumption. You can automate your appliances and let the application control their energy flows to optimize consumption. It also allows you to control energy use remotely using smart devices and plugs.