We’ll start our blog series in a time manner. We’ll take different times of the day and expose some things that you may be exposed to. My point to this series is to help you get some of the unknown chemicals out of your life by bringing them to your attention and giving you easy ways to replace what you removed! Your Green Life: Bit by Bit, Bite by Bite… one step at a time.
I’ll try to keep on track of just going through an average, everyday life. I say “try” because I do tend to wander at times! Today, I’ll start upon rising from bed! Or should I say stumble out of bed!
As you crawl out of bed and stumble to the kitchen, first thing is to make that amazing cup of energy, Joe, liquid life, or whatever you want to call your coffee. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not going to talk you out of coffee. It’s my vice and I’m proud of it! But I do enjoy a chemical free, happy cup of my morning elixir.
The media has done some great things recently about publicizing the chemicals, pharmaceuticals and nasties in public and bottled water. I’m not diving into water in this article. Maybe another blog. Until then, I do suggest some research on your own if you need to learn more.
First we’ll talk about what you make your coffee in. There are eco-friendly coffee pots that don’t use filters and barely any energy. A french press or a percolator is to name a couple. No need to throw away your coffee pot, just yet! If you have a drip model, there are healthy ways to have that morning elixir!
If your coffee pot has a filter, to be green and healthy, I recommend you really look into the kind of filter you use. There are options for eco-friendly, chemical free ways to filter your coffee. There are organic, reusable ones on the market that you wash after each use. Just dump your grounds into the compost and wash the filter. The Swiss Gold basket type are readily available in department stores. Some gold ones do come with some issues of various low quality wire and the mixing with coffee acids, so buyer beware. There are reusable ,organic hemp or muslin that are great and come with a bit of getting use to because they are floppy. I prefer the fabric to the gold ones.
If you don’t want to get rid of your paper filters just yet, please be cautious of what kind paper filter you do use. The standard white coffee filter is white because it has been bleached. In the bleaching process the coffee filters are left with dioxins from the chemical bleaching process.
The term “dioxin” is referred to a group of toxins that have a toxin level near radioactive waste. Dioxins have been stated by EPA as “likely human carcinogens and are anticipated to increase the risk of cancer at background levels of exposure.”
Dioxin accumulates in the body’s fat and stays there and disrupts the endocrine system. According to National Institute of Environment Health Sciences, studies have shown exposure to high levels of dioxins have an increased risk of cancer. Other studies have shown dioxins can cause reproductive and developmental problems, and an increased risk of heart disease and diabetes. All that in your morning cup? What do I suggest then?
Unbleached, recycled filters are my choice. They can put in your compost as they break down quickly. Using recycled paper causes 74% less air pollution, 35% less water pollution, and creates 5 times the number of jobs than producing virgin paper from trees. It saves old-growth trees, forest eco-systems, native habitat and biodiversity. (Data from World Centric)
Take your green bite, bit by bit. Do what you can, when you can and how you can. It all accumulates too.
Stay tuned for our next in Your Green Life: Bit by Bit, Bite by Bite for an exchange about your actual coffee.
