I was recently asked to develop guidance for planning sustainable meetings and events. This seems to be a common concern for various types of organizations, including churches and religious institutions. I have been to a large number of events put on by our school or church at which the main consideration that goes into choice of food and drink as well as eating materials (e.g., plates, utensils, cups, tablecloths) is price. I am always a bit dismayed during cleanup when all of the plastic water bottles, cups, plates, and utensils are wrapped up in the disposable plastic tablecloths and thrown in the garbage can. This is one of the primary reasons that such organizations have requested guidance to help make these events a bit greener.
In developing the requested guidance, I decided to initially focus on food and drinks. Beginning with drinks, an obvious necessary staple of all meetings is coffee and/or tea. Purchasing sustainable coffee and tea entails considering various aspects of coffee and tea production and distribution related to fair labor practices and prices, environmental impacts, and water and energy conservation.
Coffee plants prefer to be grown in cool forested areas where the overhanging trees provide a myriad of benefits. During the last several decades, growing coffee has shifted from the more natural inter-planting of coffee plants with shade trees to treeless “full sun” fields. Even though removing the shade results in higher production, it can also lead to significant soil erosion and water contamination as well as the need to apply agrochemicals and pesticides to eliminate pests. It should be noted that pesticides are only used because the removal of trees on most plantations also leads to a loss of natural predators of harmful insects and other pests. Pesticides, which are harmful to both humans and wildlife, are then used to alleviate these concerns; their use represents a grave concern for the workers maintaining the farm and harvesting the coffee cherries. The loss of trees has also resulted and continues to contribute towards substantial amounts of deforestation, particularly within the tropical forests of Mexico and Central America. For more information on the many benefits of growing coffee within a forested environment, please watch the documentary in the following video titled "Shade Grown Coffee."
It is commonly believed that purchasing certified organic coffee ensures sustainability throughout the entire process of growing and harvesting coffee plants, but this is not true. In addition to being certified USDA Organic, coffee, as well as tea, should be Fair Trade Certified. Purchasing Fair Trade shows support for ethical sourcing practices, sustainable livelihoods for workers and farmers, gender equality and a lower carbon footprint. In addition to these many benefits, Fair Trade Certified coffee and tea brands also ensure that the company pays a premium that goes directly to the workers for them to reinvest in their communities in whatever way they see fit.
Suggested Actions
Look for brands of coffee and tea that include one or more of the following (examples of sustainable options are provided below):
Products are certified USDA Organic and Fair Trade Certified.
Products are sold in paper bags rather than plastic containers or cans.
Tea bags are certified compostable and/or recyclable.
Companies are committed towards using sustainable packaging, are certified by the Rainforest Alliance, use regenerative farming, and/or are committed towards water and energy conservation and minimizing waste and carbon emissions.
Sustainable Options
Coffee: Farmer Brothers, Tony’s Coffee, Mother Parkers Tea & Coffee
Tea: DavidsTea, Numi, Tazo, Just Ice Tea
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