Do Your Part For The Environment By Drinking Your Tea Or Coffee

 

Image by Robert Brook

Some people may wonder what they can do to help the environment.  Maybe they recycle, maybe they have a hybrid car or use a fuel additive to lower their harmful emissions, maybe they grow their own vegetables…but they know they can do something more.  Did you know that with just one simple change in your daily routine, you can help the environment and save the rainforests?!  It’s true.

What can you do?  Drink Rainforest Alliance Certified™ tea or coffee!  It’s that simple.  What is Rainforest Alliance certification?  It’s a process that helps promote and guarantee certain improvements in agriculture/forestry.  Having the Rainforest Alliance seal of approval on a company’s product shows that company’s goods were produced in compliance with strict guidelines designed to protect the environment, rainforests, wildlife, workers and of course the local community.

Now, how do you know your tea or coffee are Rainforest Alliance Certified?  Look on the label or go to the Rainforest Alliance website.  I also figured I’d make it easy for you and list just a few tea/coffee brands that are taking that extra measure to be Rainforest Alliance Certified:

• Peet’s Coffee features Guatemala Santa Isabel coffee, which comes from a sustainable farm in Guatemala – the second ever to become Rainforest Alliance Certified.
• Lipton features their PureLeaf Iced Tea, which comes from the Rainforest Alliance Certified Lipton Tea Estate in Kericho, Kenya.  Lipton states their goal is “for all our tea suppliers to be Rainforest Alliance Certified by 2015”.
• Nestle’s Nespresso signed a pact with the Rainforest Alliance to “reduce the environmental impacts and increase the social benefits of coffee cultivation in enough tropical regions so that 80 percent of Nespresso’s coffee comes from Rainforest Alliance Certified farms by the year 2013.”

Now apparently Starbucks has received an award from Rainforest Alliance and have taken a number of “green” steps in their coffee production, but I couldn’t find any Rainforest Alliance Certified coffees listed on the Starbucks website. 

Maybe I just missed them.  Anyway…before you grab your morning tea or coffee, check and see if what you are drinking is Rainforest Alliance Certified.  It tastes good and is better for the environment.  I’d love to hear what your favorite Rainforest Alliance Certified products are.