Earth Day - Let's Party Like its 1979
Shout out Mother Earth! Shout out to nature! It’s April 22, and everyone knows what that means: it’s Earth Day. Even bigger, it’s the 50thannual Earth Day. Hot damn, Earth is getting old! Earth Day serves as an opportunity for us all to sit back, reflect, and give thanks for this beautiful planet we live on. Here at NuRange Coffee, we think that Earth may be the coolest planet we’ve lived on so far. With sweeping valleys, sky scraping mountains, and endless oceans, the various ecosystems here on Earth need to be appreciated!
A big part of appreciating our planet is monitoring our impact on it. In the 21stcentury it’s an expected part of corporate responsibility to be environmentally sustainable. Our team at NuRange has made a huge commitment to partake in environmentally conscious practices. The coffee industry is inherently rough on the planet, and it’s up to us to make sure that we make that ride as smooth as possible. Yes, sustainable practices cost significantly more than the alternative. But, we’re also not assholes. We’ve tightened up our margins in order to make sure that we leave this planet a better place than when we got here.
So What Do you Do?
We’ve touched these in blogs past, but we want to reiterate our commitment to big ol’ blue. Below are just some of the practices we partake in to make sure that we’re doing our part. Every can of NuRange Coffee uses beans that are organic, ethically and sustainably farmed, hand washed and sun dried, and solar energy roasted. Even our aluminum cans are 100% recyclable!
#Organic
Organic farming is much more than just a trendy buzzword. It is a real certification established by the federal government. Organic certified farms are inspected by government-accredited personnel, and are held to incredibly high standards. Coffee farms that are certified organic must do three specific things. Use no synthetic pesticides; have a plan established to prevent erosion, and must be farmed far enough away from non-organic products so that there is no cross-contamination.
Synthetic pesticides can have extremely adverse affects. On the land it is farmed on, the local wildlife, and the coffee drinkers. Coffee farming often requires terra-forming. This means that farmers must cut down trees and plow the land to make it farmable. This can cause erosion; ruining the same land they farm. Our organic farmers are not contributing to these issues, instead making an effort to prevent them.
#Sundried
Our beans are hand-washed and sun-dried! Exciting right? Well, it’s much better than the more cost-effective alternative. By hand washing our beans, our farmers have chosen to leave out treating the beans with harsh sterilization chemicals that could drain into the soil and local water supply. Rather than drying them in an automatic tumbler, the beans dry naturally without the aid of the machine. This process significantly lessens the farmer’s carbon footprint.
#Solarroasted
When our beans get to the United States there’s still a lot of work to be done. Typically, coffee beans are roasted in gigantic tumbler-like ovens that use enough power to support a small Asian dictator-state. We’ve partnered with a roaster who uses 100% solar energy to power their machines. More bonus points to us, but more importantly, less shots taken at the planet.
#recyclegang
Lastly is the canning process. Would our coffee look better in glass bottles? That’s up for debate. Would it taste better in a plastic bottle? Most definitely not, but it would be a cheaper option. We chose aluminum cans for one specific reason: they’re 100% recyclable. That means none of it ends up in a landfill. The garbage we’re constantly pumping into landfills is like putting sugar in the gas tank of a Ferrari (bad analogy for an Earth Day post).
Hey Thanks, Earth
At NuRange we try to do our part every day. Caring for the planet shouldn’t just be limited to Earth Day. The onus is on us as the human race to cut our negative impact on the environment and to reverse the damage we’ve done this far. And hey, maybe our NuRange Cold Brew Coffee could help fuel your work doing it. Had to fit one shameless plug in there. Happy Earth Day everybody!
