Environmental Policy

At Bridge Coffee we take our environmental responsibilities very seriously.

 

Coffee can be responsible for producing large amounts of waste, non-recyclable materials, and even introducing harmful materials into the ecosystem. Creating coffee products can also be energy intensive when handled improperly, either by the manufacturer or the end user. Lastly, unrestricted coffee cultivation and harvesting can be environmentally destructive when not done responsibly.

 

Bridge Coffee tries to address environmental concerns, biodegradability, compostability, recycling, energy reduction, and ethical production in the following ways:

 

Roasted and Ground Coffee: Wherever possible, our own label whole beans and ground coffee come in bags which can be recycled with normal plastic waste.  

 

Cups, Consumables, and Other Supplies: We strive to make all of our supplies as environmentally responsible as possible, and all of our current consumable products (teas, infusions and syrups) are recyclable through traditional consumer channels. We also offer a range of environmentally disposable products including biodegradable hot and cold cups and lids, paper straws and food packaging made from bagasse (sugar cane).

 

Cleaners and Chemicals: When servicing a machine, we use, whenever possible, organically produced, biodegradable espresso machine cleaning products, and encourage our customers to do the same.

 

Our Own Facilities: Our showroom, office, and warehousing operations all recycle waste (including re-using packaging from products supplied to us).

 

Reduction of Packaging and Overall Waste: While it’s important to focus on recycling and re-use, the single most important way to reduce waste is to ensure it never happens in the first place, especially in the form of unnecessary packaging:

 

Powdered Milk and Chocolate: The majority of the bean-2-cup machines that we supply contain high-capacity soluble powder containers for both granulated milk and chocolate to create a variety of tasty drinks. These powders, as supplied by us, have minimal packaging for their large size. The amount of packaging waste that results from individual servings of milk or chocolate in that amount is nearly 50 times that generated by the powdered versions.

 

Bulk Purchasing to Reduce Waste: We have worked with our suppliers to minimize waste on packaging of products like cups, stir sticks, sugars, and other consumable items when delivered to our logistics facilities. 

 

Ethical and Responsible Bean Sourcing: Coffee beans have an enormous economic and environmental impact all over the world, from the people consuming the finished coffee, to the farmers who produce it. At Bridge Coffee we are committed to sourcing beans from ethical sources that meet strict requirements for environmental standards of how the coffee is grown, ethical standards on how the farmers are treated, and fair trade standards on how producers are paid. A large proportion of the coffee that we sell is certified by the Rainforest Alliance or Fairtrade Foundation.

 

Reduction of Energy Consumption: Given the recent focus on reducing carbon footprint, and how energy use factors into it, there has been a lot of attention paid to electricity consumed by both end-users of machines and coffee manufacturers.

 

All of the new machines that we place in offices, hotels, showrooms, and other commercial scenarios have energy saving modes when not in constant use, and many go beyond that by being engineered to consume as little energy as possible.

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