How we run a Sustainable Coffee Shop

We diligently framed our sustainability and traceability model which we regularly revisit for sourcing coffee, tea, brewing equipment and other supplies needed to run our coffee shop on a daily basis. Hopefully it will put us on a path to save our fragile ecosystem & inspire others to do the same.

Coffee

Bought directly from the farmers, producers, co-operatives and exporters while paying premium above the market prices to support development & quality improvement at the grassroots

Sourced and Locally roasted by our partner Roaster in Bethnal Green, London

Tea

Directly bought from the farmers and tea estates. All teas are picked to provide a wide & beautiful selection of flavor profiles across Black, Green, White & Herbal varieties

Sourced by a local supplier in Marleybone, London

Wellness

All ingredients are traceable including superfoods like beetroot (grown in UK) and spirulina (organic & natural protein source)

All wellness extracts are made fresh in the coffee bar without any preservatives thereby providing various health benefits for our physical and mental wellbeing

Free Water Refills

We have a reverse osmosis (R.O.) system under the coffee bar to filter water for achieving the best quality mineral water available for drinking & making coffee

We offer customers the same filtered water paired with herbs and fruits for FREE thereby becoming an essential element of our sustainability model

Clear Air

All our plants came from Columbia Flower Market located in East End sitting on the edge of London and transported via a local arched, double-decker, red-painted London bus to our coffee bar. It is a fun experience to carry potted plants in a bus full of people

Plants make us happier, healthier, more efficient and boost our creativity

Takeaway

All our takeaway cups, lids, paper straws, sleeves & paper napkins is made from plants using renewable, carbon neutral, recycled or reclaimed materials

No plastic linings is used in any of the takeaway cups. Our full product range can be commercially composted with food waste & can break down completely in industrial composting facilities

Dairy

Sourced from dairy farm in Surrey in glass milk bottles

Milk bottles are delivered & picked up daily so that these bottles can be re-used for milk delivery preventing the use of Plastic Cartons which may or may not be recycled. Multiple re-use of the glass bottles offsets any negative carbon footprint associated with making glass bottles

Bring Your Own Cup

50% of our regular customers bring their own cup as we offer monetary discount. It is a wonderful way of avoiding waste while saving money. Occasionally we remind our regulars when they forget to bring their cup so that they remember the importance of their contribution

Remember the best way to recycle is to use less of everything

Furniture

Designed by Kafi & all made from reclaimed wood (most of it 60-70 years old) at a Wood Recycling Center

Coffee Bar, Tables & Benches are made from reclaimed old scaffolding boards. Planters and small stools are made from reclaimed wood pallets.

Cups & Saucers

Designed by Kafi and handmade by a local potter in East London

Reduced carbon footprint of manufacturing and transporting the wares globally if we had purchased them from a big cups manufacturer

Glasses

We found a supplier who was able to fulfill our needs for recycled glass which we use for both drinking water & serving Cold Drinks

Electrical Fixtures

We used all recycled glass fixtures in our coffee bar which we worked beautifully and are sturdy enough to be used in the coffee shop.

Healthy Sugar - Coconut Palm

We offer Coconut palm sugar instead of any other sugar as we strongly feel that this is best sweetener available which is good for your health and pairs really well with the drink

Fresh & Local Produce

We identified superfoods such as Beetroot, Ginger, Turmeric which are used in our wellness lattes.

We buy them from suppliers with similar ethos around sourcing of fresh & local produce with equal emphasis on preventing food waste

Bakery

Partnered with a local bakery which is delivering fresh pastries everyday who have sustainability as their core focus.

To reduce food waste, we implemented multiple solutions to put our unsold Bakery Online at reduced prices during the end of the day (we have never thrown away any bakery since the day we have opened)

Chocolate

Single Origin bean to bar chocolates handmade in East London. Low in sugar & all traceable ingredients

Soda

Handcrafted in Dalston with 66% less sugar and made with traceable ingredients

Honey

Sourced from bee hives located in Custom House Docks. No preservatives added to the honey.

Menu & Displays

Menus are printed on Handmade recycled paper

All other displays are made by using old menu paper (We save old menu printed papers when we make changes to our menu and had to print new menu cards)

All used menu & display paper is then discarded in mixed recycling to make it available for paper recycling

Coffee Grounds Recycling

We collect and throw coffee grounds separately. Rubbish services collect these coffee grounds and pass it to bio-bean. They recycle coffee grounds on an industrial scale, converting the waste into essential oils, biofuels and biochemicals. The recycled coffee grounds are turned into logs for wood burners.

Recycling coffee grounds this way saves 80% CO2 emissions then if they were sent to landfill, and 70% then if they were sent to anaerobic digestion facility mixed with food waste.

Mixed Waste Recycling

Mixed Recycling is the collection of all the dry waste. We put paper, small cardboard pieces, plastic or metal which is then collected & sorted by our rubbish collector. We learned that it is cheaper to recycle these materials than to dispose of them with general waste.

Each material is recycled back into new products, such as office paper, plastic bottles, drinks cans and newspapers.

Cardboard Recycling

We currently use First mile recycling and are at 88% recycling rate which includes Cardboard recycling. Cardboard is picked from outside the coffee shop and then processed at sorting and recycling facilities. Used cardboard is then recycled in as few as 14 days to make new products, such as cardboard boxes Recycling cardboard takes

75% of the energy needed to make new cardboard, thereby reducing dependance on oil.

Glass Recycling

Glass bottles and jars are 100% recyclable and can be recycled endlessly without any loss in purity or quality. Any glass that can’t be recycled is broken down and used in the construction industry.

Glass is turned back into glass containers, over and over again except for toughened, broken & damaged glasses which can be sent to build roads & buildings.