Java, Java, Java...

 
It’s something that starts most of our days, and even keeps us moving throughout the afternoon on those slow, sleepy Mondays.  It’s an integral part of many cultures (including our own); it’s something you share with friends, and something you enjoy in solitude.   
 

I am a coffee addict.  In my prime, I could slam back a good 8 cup pot on a Saturday, and when working from home, any excuse to fill the cup up was good enough for me.   
 
A few years ago, during my time studying human rights and trading policies in university, I made the switch to fair trade coffee.  The next step was kicking the paper cup – I rarely buy coffee at the shop, making my own in the morning and taking it with me in a reusable glass mug just tastes so much better.  Two years ago I stopped taking milk in my coffee (I’ve never been much for sugar).  I was told of the health benefits of pure, black, brew and never looked back.
 
My latest challenge with java?   It was to kick it all together.  For one month.  I didn’t think that I could do it but now, 21 days in, I’m still standing. 
 
Why you might ask?  Why would I have tortured myself like this for a month – facing brain splitting headaches over the past few weeks because of caffeine withdrawal, smelling the sweet aroma of a Just Us fresh ground every morning when my partner makes a pot before heading to work. 
 
For water, that’s why! Sure, it doesn’t take that much water to actually brew a cup of coffee, but when you start looking at all the steps in industrial coffee production, the way we package it, the way we produce it, and the rate we consume it: it is one of the largest virtual water users on the market!
 
For someone like you and I here in Canada, it can take over 140L of water to produce just one cup (about 125ml) of coffee.  Now, that’s best-case scenario; glass mug, no milk, no sugar. 
 
Add a paper or plastic cup, milk, and sugar and you’re well over the 200L mark. Not to mention if we’re driving to and from the coffee shop, idling our car in the drive-through, and doing this three or four times a day. 
 
That’s more than 50 gallons of water for one cup of coffee (and I’m not talking vente, X large, or even a grande!).
 
In my quest to give up coffee for one month, I’ve become a little more mindful of some of our Canadian culture surrounding the issue:
 

1. We like to buy our coffee from drive-in.  (idling our cars in line burns extra fossil fuels and wastes water!!!!)
2.  
3. We drink our coffee from plastic-lined paper cups. (that are not biodegradable or recyclable no matter what you may optimistically think!!)
4.  
5. We do this 1-4 times per day.  (gasp!!)

 
 Especially during “roll-up” season, we seem to forget about those handy, dandy travel mugs given to us for the holidays by our eco-conscience friends and family… all for the hopes of winning a donut or a coffee. 
 
The litter caused by coffee cups is disgraceful, and one walk to work in the HRM revealed 51 roll up cups after the first week of the annual competition.   I’ve even watched in horror as friends of mine order the coffee, dump it into their travel mugs, and then roll the rim up on the cup, to chuck it in the garbage moments later.
 
So what am I asking you to do with your morning, afternoon, or four-a-day ritual?  A few, easy, simple things that can make a big water conservation difference in the long run:
 

1. Bring your mug! Come on people, it’s not hard! Are 51 paper cups floating around on the street really worth a free 0.70-cent muffin or donut?
2.  
3. Skip the milk! It takes over 1000L of water for just 1L of milk.  While you may not use a lot of milk in your coffee in the morning, it makes a big difference once you cut it out.  Just try black coffee once or twice, you might really like it!  Also, my philosophy is that if the coffee needs “double double” proportions of sugar and milk, it’s probably not worth drinking..
4.  
5. Don’t waste! I am just as bad as the next person for brewing a huge pot of coffee and dumping the last bits down the drain after it has been on the burner for too long.  Turn your pot off after it’s done brewing, and then reheat.  So much water going into production, transportation, and packaging just to be washed down the drain!  Eek!