Coffee, which has basically become a necessity in this day and age, is a beverage enjoyed globally. As much as we enjoy this brown fine drink, it can be detrimental to the environment if we are not careful. From usage of paper cups to sieving with paper filters, more trees are being chopped down with the increased consumption of coffee.
Paper filters vs. steel filters
Many people are using paper filters for their coffee which are discarded right after use. Other than creating waste volume (and wasting tons of trees), most paper filters are bleached with either oxygen or chlorine where even if oxygen is more environmentally friendly, it still involves a chemical process which results to wasteful products.
The overall solution here would be to use steel filters which are reusable over years- they simply need cleaning after use for maintenance and no trees are cut to produce them. Steel filters are also great for the environment because they don’t create a huge pile of waste- as they can be used for a long period of time.
Trees and paper filters
Coffee paper filters are made from around 100g/m2 of filter paper. Now imagine all those cups of coffee you’ve had plus the filters you’ve tossed- say 100 cups to say the least. This is basically 10000g/m2 of filter paper that you have used up in around 3 months- assuming you take coffee almost daily.
So what about 1 whole year? This would be 40,000g/m2. And this is just you by yourself. There are millions if not billions of people around the world who drink coffee almost daily and even trying to imagine the numbers of paper used globally for this is quite frightening.
Ideally, this is what we save for every ton of paper recycled / not used:
- 17 mature trees
- 4,100 kilowatt hours of electricity— this can power a standard American home for 6 months!
- 3.3 cubic yards of landfill space
- 7,000 gallons of water
- 380 gallons of oil
Why steel filters are best
It is simple, steel filters are great for the environment because not a single tree is cut down to make these filters. You will be personally saving 40,000g/m2 of paper a year by the simple act of switching to stainless steel coffee filters. Saving paper means saving trees and saving trees literally means saving our planet. Trees help to preserve the environment in ways such as:
- Reducing air temperature by blocking sunrays and work as natural air conditioners.
- Absorbing carbon dioxide and other harmful gases such as carbon monoxide and sulfur dioxide and providing oxygen.
- Helping to settle and trap dust, smoke and pollen from the air.
- Preserves soil and helps to conserve water.
- Works as windbreaks and help buffer against strong winds hence reduce damage when storms occur etc.
Now that you have these facts, I hope you will make the wise decision and try to make a difference, at least for the environment. Click here to check out the Lindle & Collins Stainless Steel Coffee Filter!