Update from February 2024 - we’re working on updating our footprint numbers and will update the page to reflect our most up-to-date status.

REDUCING CARBON EMISSIONS

100% of our shipping and operations emissions are offset

WE BELIEVE THAT THE CLIMATE CRISIS IS THE BIGGEST PROBLEM FOR OUR PLANET

At Driftaway Coffee, we do everything we can to reduce our energy consumption. We have built our business with practices and policies to be carbon efficient from the get-go, and we purchase carbon offsets for the rest.

HOW WE KEEP OUR CARBON FOOTPRINT LOW

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E-COMMERCE USES 30% LESS ENERGY

According to a study by Carnegie Mellon University, energy is saved from not maintaining retail stores and zero shopper commute.

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NO AIR TRAVEL FOR SOURCING

We've made a conscious decision to partner with reputable importers instead of visiting every coffee farm we source from, and maintaining communication online as much as possible.

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USE GROUND SHIPPING

For raw materials that we order every month, we plan ahead and use ground shipping over air shipping, which has the highest carbon footprint. 

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DIRECT FROM ROASTER

Being a Direct-to-Consumer company that roasts coffee ourselves cuts down on waste and distribution emissions.

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ENERGY EFFICIENT ROASTER

We roast 75% of our coffee on an incredibly energy efficient Loring Kestrel S35 roaster. This keeps our Scope 1 emissions from roasting to an absolute minimum.

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MINIMIZE FREIGHT SHIPPING

Over 50% of our coffees are stored at a warehouse in New Jersey, thereby minimizing freight transport to only a handful of miles to our roastery in Brooklyn.

MEASURING OUR CARBON FOOTPRINT

In order to further reduce our carbon footprint, we needed to first measure and analyze our existing carbon footprint, so we could identify areas for reduction.

In 2019, we calculated the carbon footprint of our operations - this includes all greenhouse emissions right from the transportation of raw materials to our warehouse in Brooklyn, the electricity for running our production space to shipping each package to you.

Driftaway carbon footprint 70.88 metric tons - Jan 1 to Sep 30 2019.

REDUCING OUR CARBON FOOTPRINT

AVOID AIR SHIPPING OF RAW MATERIALS

Our second largest emission source is from raw materials shipped internationally by air. While it provides flexibility for our operations, we know shipping heavy paper materials by air is not good for the environment.

GOAL FOR 2020: We have found a new supplier for these raw materials and spent time forecasting so that we can utilize a slower and much more environmentally friendly method of shipping by sea with no disruption to operations.

AIR SHIPPING TO CUSTOMERS

We use air over ground for faraway shipping zones to ensure that the coffee is fresh when you receive it. It is our biggest source of CO2 emissions.

GOAL FOR 2021: As we grow our volume, it will make sense to become bi-coastal by opening a facility on the west coast, thereby reduce air shipping dramatically and potentially eliminating it altogether.

CARBON-FREE COFFEE BY 2022

In 2019, we measured and offset the carbon footprint of our operations and everything that we buy and sell. As a next step, we're embarking on a project to calculate the carbon footprint of the entire lifecycle of our product starting with a coffee plant and ending with an empty bag of coffee.

GOAL FOR 2022: Achieve carbon-free coffee by reducing the carbon footprint of the entire lifecyle and offset what cannot be reduced. This is a big undertaking with many actors involved and we're excited to be doing our part.

OFFSETTING OUR CARBON FOOTPRINT

We've chosen to offset our carbon footprint by collaborating with Cool Effect, an organization with over 20 years of operating history and one in which over 90% of the funds go directly to the project funded. The project that we chose for our offsets is one that will help with carbon absorption and releasing oxygen, but it is close to our (coffee) heart since it trains over 600 families to improve coffee yields!

Alto Mayo Protection Forest
Alto Mayo Protection Forest

FROM COOL EFFECT

"This project protects nearly 450,000 acres from deforestation. Since trees sequester carbon pollution, more trees = less CO₂. The Alto Mayo forest is twice the size of New York City but it’s under threat from deforestation despite its protected status. This project provides technical assistance and advice on the ground to transform illegal loggers into organic coffee farmers and eco-entrepreneurs."

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