We love our coffee
Singaporeans would know, we are a food heaven.
We love our local delights and we too love our morning cup of coffee. You would probably have heard the kopi-sao (the lady who serve you drinks) saying "kopi-siu-dai", "kopi-gao", "kopi-o-kosong"...across the coffee shop making your orders.
The old school kopi never loses it charm and Singapore's artisanal coffee scene is also on the rise. It is not just a cup of coffee that energises you; it is our community and our way of living.
Do you know?
In 2018, over 9 billion kilos of coffee were consumed worldwide.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
How many jute bags of coffee beans are roasted per year?
Jute bags are the sack used in your coffee supply chain to carry your coffee beans. They are made of affordable natural fibers, similar to cotton. It is bio-degradable.
But, how environmentally friendly is a jute bag as a single use packing material?
Assessing life cycle of a packaging
Different types of packaging go through different life cycles:
From extraction of the raw material needed,
to production of making the bag
to the point they were discarded.
There are many categories that determine how “environmentally friendly” each bag is—water usage, toxicity, climate change, ozone depletion.
Life cycle of a Jute Bag
As all plants do, they need land and water to grow, then harvested to processed into bags.
With the energy spent on seed sewing, manure and fibre processing... sadly to say, their life cycle ends here at the coffee roasters.
What can we do to make a difference?
By extending their life cycle either up-cycling and incorporating them into packaging items for retail stores to consumers or in any another creative form, we are giving the jute bags a new life. With that energy spent on making these jute bags, are we able to contribute and put in some effort to extending their life span from its single usage?
There are many ways to up-cycle your jute bags:
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Jute fillers can replace shredded paper fillers and its easy and minimalistic.
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Jute pouches to help reduce new materials being produced.
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Jute wrappers as your gift wrap, instead of the boring paper wrappers.
We can make a change together.
