Florida coffee shop certified first 'zero waste' store in state

The Black Crow Coffee Co. is the first shop to earn itself the accolade of being certified as zero waste in Florida by the environmental company, Suncoa Compost. To earn this title, in a business where there is so much disposable waste in the form of napkins, takeaway cups, straws, stirrers or cup lids means that the business, based in Pinellas County must be doing something incredibly right.

Recycling

Black Crow Coffee Co. has confirmed that it took them 7 months to turn around their habits when it came to recycling their products. They report that before, they behaved just like any other coffee shop and would send the majority of their waste to landfill. As one of the most popular stores in Pinellas County, Florida, that was a lot of waste.

With some conscious effort on their part, however, they have managed to completely turn this around and the business now recycles 90% of their rubbish, keeping it out of the landfill. The coffee shop now uses biodegradable cups as well as sleeves, so they can be sure that even if customers don't dispose of their waste correctly, the cups will breakdown naturally. They even use biodegradable tea bags that they place straight onto the compost heap. Perhaps the biggest change that they have made, however, is in removing plastic straws from the coffee shop altogether and replacing them with noodles.

Education

The devotion that Black Crow Coffee Co. have towards their recycling is just one of the changes that the coffee shop have made to earn their zero waste status. They also believe in the importance of educating their customers and showing them how they can do their bit. Customers, for instance, are encouraged to use their own renewable coffee cups rather than use precious resources by choosing to use new takeaway coffee cups at every visit. They also have compostable items located right in the shop so that they can create a conversation starter for their customers.

They say that seeing the actions that the shop are taking for the environment in practice encourages the customers to ask questions, which can be answered with tips that the customers can follow for themselves. They believe that the dialogue that happens between them and their customers goes out into the wider community and that it can lead to change. One thing is for sure, they are certainly revolutionising the coffee industry, let's hope others follow suit.