April 5, 2017 — Raise your hand if your day starts with a cup of coffee (or two). You’re not alone. Around the world, we consume over 988 billion cups annually. And this number is predicted to grow in coming years.
All this coffee comes with a pretty hefty carbon footprint. In Costa Rica, coffee production is responsible for nearly 10 percent of the country’s carbon dioxide emissions.
One cooperative south of the capital city of San José is working to make coffee more climate-friendly.
The Coffee Cooperative of Dota (Coopedota), an association of 800 coffee farmers, is the world’s first certified carbon-neutral coffee producer.
The video above explores how Coopedota achieved this certification by changing the way coffee is grown and processed. With resulting energy and water savings, the cost of running the main production facility dropped by nearly half.
The Costa Rican government hopes the country’s 6,000-plus coffee producers will follow the cooperative’s lead and reduce emissions from one of the world’s most beloved beverages.
Lindsay Fendt is a freelance reporter and photographer based in Central America, covering environmental and human rights issues. She contributes to The Guardian, Al Jazeera, U.S. News and World Report, and others.
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