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6 Ways Coffee Blue Is Reducing Our Carbon Footprint

Earth can be a wonderful place.

As beautiful as our planet is, human inhabitance seems to have taken its toll.

Both land and ocean temperatures are soaring. Since 2001, we have experienced 16 of the 17 warmest years on record, and experts suggest human activity is to blame.

As a business – particularly within the automobile and coffee sector – we have a moral duty to do our bit in becoming more environmentally sustainable.

That’s why we at Coffee Blue have taken appropriate measures logistically to reduce our carbon footprint.

Here are just some of the steps put in place that help make Coffee Blue a sustainable business:

Food waste given to homeless shelters

Whether it’s fresh sandwiches, hot pies and pasties, snacks or sweet treats, our franchisees store a wide selection of food on their vans.

But what happens to the food that hasn’t sold at the end of the day?

You’ll be happy to learn that no food waste from our franchisees finds itself in landfill sites. We give our food away to local homeless shelters.

No food waste and the homeless don’t go hungry; it’s win-win!

Catering van filled with sandwiches
Giving away our surplus ensures none of our food goes to waste.

Coffee grounds distributed to composters

It’s not just the food that doesn’t end up in landfill, our coffee grounds are re-purposed as well.

We go through a lot of coffee in a day, meaning lots of leftover coffee grinds from all the delicious hot beverages served throughout the day.

The best use for these leftovers, we thought, is to give them to composters so their allotments can thrive.

Coffee grounds are an excellent nitrogen source for composting, with a C/N ratio of 20/1.

Furthermore, they aren’t acidic. The acidity in coffee is water-soluble, meaning most of the acid passes into the actual coffee you drink, not the leftover grounds.

This results in a near-neutral pH balance of between 6.5 and 6.8, which improves the tilth and structure of the soil. A neutral – or close to neutral – pH balance of 7.0 is ideal for most plants. Too acidic, or too alkaline, and they won’t grow.

Composting and growing your own produce can bring a vast number of environmental benefits. It reduces the number of harmful pesticides, as well as conserves landfill sites by naturally recycling organic resources.

Don’t be afraid to ask for any coffee grounds for your compost if you see us around!

The lowest carbon footprint of any Coffee Van on the market

Our parent company, Vantastec ltd, is the industry leader when it comes to knowledge of vans and vehicle conversions.

With their expertise and the hard work of our colleagues in the workshop, we’re able to assemble the most efficient mobile coffee van on the road.

Our converted Ford Transit Customs use the latest Euro 6.2 engines. This means they abide by European guidelines for reducing harmful exhaust emissions.

To put that into context, the first Euro 1 engines emit 2.72 grams of carbon dioxide per monoxide. Euro 6 engines emit just 0.63 grams of carbon monoxide per kilometre.

Furthermore, the temperature-controlled sections in our vans operate without the need for a generator, meaning less electricity consumed and therefore even fewer emissions!

Compact trading territories = lower mileage

Each of our franchisees is assigned their own trading territories which are carefully selected by our team to maximize their productivity.

We try to avoid making these territories too widespread to cut down on mileage. This makes it easier for our franchisees to drive between stops, but it also means our fuel consumption is drastically reduced.

Franchisees carefully plan their routes to reduce the distance between stops. They also make sure their van’s engine is turned off during these stops, which further helps the environment by lowering emissions.

Reusable coffee cup and mug on a coffee table
Reusable cups in exchange for cheaper coffee is one of our commitments to helping the environment

Biodegradable cups and discounts for reusable ones

Coffee Blue uses biodegradable cups and lids in all of our coffee vans.

Standard coffee cups take an estimated 70 years to bio-degrade – which is an awfully long time when you consider we consume 70 million cups of coffee a day in the UK alone.

Using biodegradable cups means fewer unrecyclable plastic products ending up in landfill sites. Instead, they’ll be used for composting and will naturally biodegrade.

Alternatively, if you have one of those fancy reusable cups made out of bamboo or another material, our franchisees offer discounts on all drinks served in them too!

Dairy-free drinks served on all Coffee Blue vans

Between 2005 and 2015, the dairy cattle industry’s greenhouse gas emissions increased by 18% as the demand for milk grows.

According to World Wild Life, the growing demand for dairy puts great pressure on natural resources.

From greenhouse gases emitted by machinery to fertilisers and manure degrading local water supplies, an unsustainable or poorly-handled approach to dairy farming will take its toll on our planet.

Being a mobile barista service serving predominantly milk-based drinks, our franchisees go through a lot of milk on a daily basis.

By offering dairy-free alternatives to all of our hot drinks, more Coffee Blue customers may be persuaded to make soya, oat, coconut or almond lattes their go-to morning brew.

05June
2019
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Category: Blog

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