The 1st of October is International Coffee Day, a day recognized and celebrated by the United Nations.

For millions of us human beings, coffee is part of our everyday life. It can be a quiet moment in the morning, a meeting between friends, or a reason for people to sit together and talk. Coffee also supports the livelihoods of millions of farmers and workers.

However, behind every cup is a journey through farms, forests, water, processing facilities, transport and markets. International Coffee Day is therefore also an opportunity to ask: what is the environmental cost of the coffee we drink?

Before reading further, let’s take a short moment to consider, according to our own understanding, what we imagine the environmental cost to be…

 

 

 

From Ethiopia to the world

Coffee has a long and fascinating history. The coffee plant is widely believed to have originated in the forests of Ethiopia. The famous story of Kaldi, a goat herder who supposedly discovered coffee after seeing his goats become energetic from eating coffee berries, is a popular Ethiopian legend. However, there is no historical evidence that confirms this story.

What we know more securely, is that coffee was cultivated and consumed in Yemen by the 15th century. From Yemen, coffee spread through the Middle East and later to Europe and the rest of the world.

Today, coffee is grown in tropical regions across Africa, Asia and Latin America. Its journey from a forest plant to one of the world’s most popular drinks has created a huge global industry.

 

Billions of cups every day

Although our espresso cup may be small, we have to consider that coffee is not a “small global habit”. The International Coffee Organization estimates that more than 3 billion cups of coffee are consumed around the world every day!

Coffee is produced in more than 60 countries and supports the livelihoods of around 125 million people. The United Nations identifies the European Union and the United States as the world’s largest importing and consuming markets, while Brazil, Vietnam and Colombia are among the world’s leading producers.

This enormous demand means that even small changes in the way we produce, drink and dispose of coffee can matter. For example, at the very least, every cup requires coffee plants, land, water, energy, transport and packaging.

 

 

 

The environmental cost of coffee

Coffee production can place pressure on forests, soil, water and biodiversity. When forests are cleared to create agricultural land, carbon stored in trees and soils can be released into the atmosphere. Land-use change can therefore be an important source of greenhouse-gas emissions associated with coffee production.

Coffee farming can also involve fertilisers and pesticides. When these are used excessively, they can enter rivers and other water sources through runoff. And, coffee processing creates another problem: wastewater and coffee pulp can pollute the environment when they are not properly managed.

Water is another important part of the story. One widely cited study estimated that a 125-millilitre cup of coffee has a water footprint of about 140 litres, most of it related to growing the coffee plant. However, the exact amount varies greatly according to climate, farming methods, location, and how the coffee is prepared.

Coffee production can also affect wildlife. Traditional coffee farms that grow coffee beneath a diverse mixture of trees can provide habitat for birds and other species. In contrast, intensive systems with fewer trees can reduce biodiversity. Recent research has found that diverse coffee agroforestry systems can have lower biodiversity impacts than coffee monocultures.

 

When coffee consumption harms an animal

There is another side of the coffee industry that is particularly troubling: Kopi Luwak, or civet coffee.

Asian palm civets naturally eat fruit, including coffee cherries. Traditionally, coffee beans were collected from the droppings of wild civets. However, the growing luxury market has created a different system.

Research in Bali has documented coffee tourism plantations where civets are kept in cages. A 2024 scientific study examining 29 civet-coffee plantations found that the animals’ welfare standards did not meet Indonesian legal requirements, and no civet observed in the study met all five basic animal-welfare freedoms!

Animal-welfare investigations have also documented civets being kept in small cages and being force-fed large quantities of coffee cherries to increase production.

This is a reminder that a product marketed as rare and luxurious can sometimes hide serious animal suffering. We as consumers can avoid contributing to this problem by choosing coffee that does not involve captive civets.

 

A variety of Kopi Luwak in a Balinese supermarket

 

The problem after the last sip

The environmental story of coffee does not end when we finish drinking it.

In many places around the world, takeaway coffee has become part of daily life. In Greece, for example, iced coffees such as freddo espresso and freddo cappuccino are extremely popular. A walk through a busy Greek city or tourist area can reveal another side of this coffee culture: large numbers of disposable cups, lids, straws and other takeaway items.

Not every cup becomes litter, of course. But when disposable packaging is thrown onto streets, pavements or beaches, it becomes part of the wider plastic-pollution problem. Research on waste in Greek tourist areas has found that disposable cups, straws, bags and other packaging are commonly found on beaches, while tourism can significantly increase waste volumes in coastal areas.

This is not only a Greek problem. Single-use beverage cups are a global environmental issue. The European Union includes cups for beverages among the single-use plastic products targeted by its environmental policies, particularly because of their impact on the marine environment.

The United Nations Environment Programme has also highlighted an important point: the problem is not simply the material itself, but the fact that an item is designed to be used once and then discarded. On the other hand, reusable systems can help keep materials in use for longer and reduce waste.

A simple alternative is therefore to carry a reusable coffee cup and ask cafés to use it instead of providing a new disposable cup for every drink.

 

The famous Freddo in its plastic packaging

 

What should we do with used coffee grounds?

After making our espresso, filter coffee, or other brewed coffee, the grounds do not necessarily have to become waste. Used coffee grounds and paper coffee filters can be added to a well-managed compost pile, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Coffee grounds are rich in nitrogen, so they work best when mixed with carbon-rich materials such as dry leaves, cardboard, or untreated paper, and they should be part of a balanced compost mixture rather than making up the entire pile.

If home composting is not possible, local food-waste or organic-waste collection services may be available. Used grounds can also sometimes be given to community gardens or composting projects.

And, as some of us may have learned through experience, it is best not to wash large amounts of coffee grounds down the sink, as they can accumulate in plumbing and cause blockages.

In this simple way, something left over from our morning coffee can return to the soil instead of becoming unnecessary waste.

 

How can we enjoy coffee more responsibly?

Of course, we do not have to stop drinking coffee to reduce its environmental impact. Our small choices can make big differences!

We can choose coffee produced through diverse agroforestry systems, where coffee grows alongside native and other useful trees. We can support farmers and businesses that provide clear information about how their coffee is produced. We can avoid coffee connected to animal exploitation, including coffee produced using caged civets.

We can also reduce waste by using reusable cups and brewing equipment, avoiding unnecessary single-use capsules, and preparing only the amount of coffee we need.

Most importantly, we can remember that our choices are connected to a much larger system. A cup of coffee may look simple, but its journey involves farmers, plants, soil, water, animals, energy, transport, and packaging.

 

 

 

A cup that connects us with nature

Now that we have a little bit of background information, we may look at a cup of coffee in a different way. Our cup of coffee can remind us that even an ordinary drink connects our lives with distant landscapes, farmers, trees, soil, water and wildlife.

The good news is that coffee does not have to be an enemy of nature. When grown with healthy soils, protected forests, diverse trees, and responsible farming practices, coffee landscapes can also support biodiversity and human communities.

So, on International Coffee Day, perhaps we can enjoy our next cup a little differently: with gratitude for the people who grew it, respect for the land that produced it, and awareness of the natural world that makes every cup possible.

We can choose a coffee grown with care. We can choose a reusable cup. We can compost the grounds. And we can choose not to support products that depend on animal suffering.

Sometimes, appreciating coffee begins with understanding where it comes from, and where it goes after we finish it.

 

References:

Images from Pexels and from the author’s personal archive

https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/environmental-economics/articles/10.3389/frevc.2023.1145640/full
https://www.unep.org/resources/publication/addressing-single-use-plastic-products-pollution-using-life-cycle-approach
https://environment.ec.europa.eu/topics/plastics/single-use-plastics_en
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/301575271_The_animal_welfare_implications_of_civet_coffee_tourism_in_Bali
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10888705.2023.2270414
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308521X25001891
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S092180090700105X
https://www.icocoffee.org/documents/cy2024-25/coffee-development-report-2022-23.pdf
https://www.un.org/en/observances/coffee-day
https://www.icocoffee.org/documents/cy2024-25/coffee-development-report-2022-23.pdf