For coffee lovers, keeping beans fresh has always meant sacrificing some waste to the environment. Coffee bags must provide a shelf-stable barrier to oxygen and moisture, while providing a one-way valve to release naturally occurring CO2 from the roasted coffee.
That means most coffee bags are made from plastic that will last for thousands of years in our landfills – or worse, in the natural environment.
In line with their philosophy of offering sustainable products at a reasonable price point, Earth’s Choice wanted to make a better packaging choice.
So they selected a bag from TekPak solutions, made with Organic Compound Plastic (OCP) designed to break down in any environment where microbes are present – landfill, oceans, soil – eventually leaving only water, CO2 and a tiny percentage of organic matter.
Earth’s Choice says the bag is currently the only one of this type in Canada, and will decompose in less than 5 years in any post-consumer facility. (Standard coffee bags on the market can remain in a landfill for over 500 years, or multiple generations)
This packaging material complies with ASTM standards for biodegradability, and the TekPak website also has a lot of interesting information on different kinds of plastics, degradable and otherwise.
Unfortunately, the bag won’t yet break down as fast as the coffee grounds themselves, but it’s definitely a big step in the right direction. Add that to its organic and fair trade certification, and that makes Earth’s Choice a great choice when you are looking for your next green caffeine fix.
