Coffee and the Environment

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You probably aren’t thinking much about he environment while you’re sipping that first cup of coffee in the morning. That’s okay: the only thing that most of us are thinking about then is waking up!

But a new study from the University of Granada indicates that your coffee’s byproducts may be able to help (or at least not hurt) the environment, and provide significant vitamins—another reason to feel good about that cup of Joe!

Coffee’s by-products include coffee grounds and coffee silverskin (the epidermis of the coffee bean, which is removed during processing). It’s traditionally been assumed that these by-products have few practical uses and applications. Spent coffee grounds are sometimes employed as homemade skin exfoliants or as abrasive cleaning products.

And, of course, many of us use them as composting agents for fertilizing our gardens! But apart from these limited applications, coffee by-products are considered virtually useless. And because of that, practically all of this highly contaminating “coffee waste” ends up in landfills across the globe and therefore has a considerable effect on the environment.

In an article published in the academic journal Food Science and Technology, researchers from Granada demonstrate the powerful antioxidant and antimicrobial properties of the coffee grounds and silverskin, which are highly rich in fiber and phenols. The antioxidant effects of these coffee grounds are 500 times greater than those found in vitamin C!

What that means in practical terms is that processed coffee by-products could potentially be recycled as sources of new food ingredients. This would also greatly diminish the environmental impact of discarded coffee by-products.

At Bliss Shurfine Food Mart, we’re always looking for ways to help the environment and provide you with the best products and information possible. Why not come and check out our coffee aisle today?