Like many North Americans I have a morning vice called coffee. Although I am not as bad as some, my day is thrown out of sorts if I don’t start it with about three big cups of strong joe. Most of the coffee I drink is self-brewed - I try to avoid going to Tim Hortons, Starbucks, or Dunkin. Part of the reason I self-brew is cost - it adds up to buy one or two coffees a day from the name brand stores.

Another reason I self-brew is time. I live in a country that is obsessed with Tim Hortons for reasons that I can’t figure. Canadians are so determined to get their coffee from this company that in the morning it is impossible to get a coffee without having to wait at least 10 minutes in your car or in the store. I honestly think Canada’s carbon footprint would be significantly reduced if just a fraction of Tim’s customers actually gave up their morning ritual and brewed their own coffee at home. I am being a bit facetious here, but not entirely. Not only are the drive-thru lineups wasteful in terms of fuel use,  they can actually be dangerous as well. I have witnessed several near car accidents from the drive-thru line snaking out into the city streets.

But the most important reason why I self-brew is because I like to know where my coffee comes from. One of my favorite companies is Vermont-based Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (GMCR). They have an awesome selection of Fair Trade and Organic coffees to choose from. They are not green bandwagon jumpers either - they have been leaders in the sustainability movement for many years now.

Recently GMCR announced a competitive grant program called Changing Climate Change. They are going to award $200,000 to each of four projects ($800,000 US total) that address climate change mitigation. In an era of corporate cost-cutting and mass layoffs, GMCR is actually initiating a funding program to address one of society’s critical issues. Funding of projects targeting climate change is an area that is typically dominated by government agencies - it is very refreshing and encouraging to see a member of the corporate community take some leadership in this area and hopefully others will follow.

GMCR coffees are competitively priced against other premium whole bean and ground brands. Even here in Canada GMCR products are worth a look. Canadian consumers are frequently overcharged for food products compared to their American neighbors. Because of this, GMCR coffee is actually competitive with store-bought organic and Fair Trade brands in Canada even after the exchange rate and shipping charges are added in. A trick that I use to bring down the per-bag cost is to order several bags at one time - this way the shipping charges per bag are much less than with a smaller order.

Do yourself a favor and give them a try - and sip with satisfaction knowing that you are supporting a true sustainability champion. And if you are one of the few brave souls still playing the stock market, click on the graph below to see how GMCR has performed on Nasdaq over the last six months compared to the rest of the index! And GMCR is not compensating me in any way to write this post - I just wanted to spread the word about the great things that they are doing.

Graph courtesy of NASDAQ

photo courtesy Stanford University AAD Group

Over the past year as I have prepared for the launch of the Kuzuka carbon offset marketplace I have become much more aware of how to reduce business carbon footprints. Why have I become a footprint reduction expert? Because offsetting is only the final step in dealing with a carbon footprint - more important are taking feasible and realistic steps to reduce carbon emissions. These steps save businesses money in a couple of ways: it reduces their energy costs and it minimizes the number of offsets that have to be purchased.

Business travel is one area where a lot of manageable and high-impact carbon footprint reductions can occur. Probably the biggest way to reduce business travel emissions is to eliminate the travel itself. Today’s networking technology is so effective that many trips can now be avoided through the use of on-line seminars and video conferencing. For smaller groups teleconferences should always be considered as an alternative to face-to-face meetings.

If business travel is absolutely necessary then it is suggested that non-stop flights be used when available. A disproportionate amount of greenhouse gas emissions from air travel are emitted during the take-off and landing phases of the flight. Therefore a trip with multiple legs has a larger amount of time spent taking off and landing than a direct flight.

Now let me explain my guilty carbon conscience. In a couple of days I have to make the trip across the country to Vancouver for some business meetings that unfortunately cannot be done via email or teleconference. Strike One. When I booked my travel a couple of weeks ago I was given the choice of flying from Toronto to Vancouver (direct) or from London Ontario to Vancouver (with a stop in Toronto). I selected the second choice, which involves a short 40-minute flight from London to Toronto before making the cross-country trip. Strike Two. Thankfully I can’t think of a Strike Three in my trip planning - at least not yet.

What was my reason for breaking the ‘fly direct whenever possible’ rule? It basically comes down to the fact that I wanted to start my trip in a close-by and quiet regional airport (London) instead of clawing my way for over two hours through horrible traffic to the busiest airport in the country (Toronto). Does this make me an eco-terrorist on this trip? I suppose that is up for debate - I do know that I will be a heck of a lot nicer person to deal with after starting my day in London, which the person who has to sit beside me for over four hours to Vancouver should be thankful for. That’s at least one person who should agree with my decision.

Photo courtesy of http://www.sustainablespringfield.org/

A number of months ago I wrote a post about the huge number of rebate and incentive programs that are available to homeowners and businesses that choose to undertake projects (both big and small) to make their buildings more energy efficient. One thing I failed to stress was the fact that many of these incentive programs require an initial energy use assessment by a certified energy auditor. This was pointed out in an excellent comment that I received from Robin Green, who said:

“There are often local, state/provincial, or national grants available to people who have a home energy audit done, then do some home energy upgrades, then have a second audit done to gauge the progress they made making their home more energy efficient.

I had this done about six years ago, and I was surprised at how much the energy auditor found for me to do to improve my home. We started with the equivalent of a 14×14 inch square hole in our home - in terms of the amount of drafts - as measured by a blower door test. We were given a score of 40/100, low but not bad for an 80-year-old house. Two months later on the second audit - after extensive sealing of baseboards, door and window frames, and the attic hatch, plus window upgrades and insulation injected into ground floor walls - we had that square down to 6×6 inches and got a score of 60/100. The financial incentives were big enough without any grants - I would guess that our heating bill dropped about 20-30% that year - but we also got something like $1200 in rebates from the federal government and from our local gas utility.

Just remember to have the first energy audit done before you do any serious home energy upgrade - most grants based on an upgrade only qualify if an audit is done first by a licensed or recognized energy auditor.”

A lot of people don’t like the sound of the word ‘audit’, probably because it makes them think of the IRS (or Revenue Canada for my Canadian readers). To put you at ease about the process, I found an article in one of my favourite magazines, This Old House, that goes through the energy audit process in layperson’s terms.

To make it all the more enticing to get audited, there are a lot of programs that offer free or cost-shared energy audits. Here are just a few that I am aware of, but there are a lot more so check your local government or utility:

For Homeowners:

Ontario, Canada (Home Energy Ontario)

Washington, DC

Tampa, Florida

Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky

Wabash County, Indiana

For Businesses:

Ontario, Canada (Power Savings Blitz)

Tampa, Florida

Over the last several years I have become somewhat obsessed with the wine industry here in Ontario and also in other parts of North America. I not only love to partake in their product, but I am also very impressed with efforts that have been made by a number of wineries to make their winemaking more sustainable. This green shift has occurred over the entire life cycle of the wine, including the sourcing of input materials (barrels, bottles, closures), the vineyard management, the wine production, and the delivery of the finished product.

The May/June 2008 issue of Vineyard and Winery Management has an article called “Going Green”. The first page of this article pictures a bottle of 2006 Pinot Noir by California’s Parducci Winery. Parducci is the first carbon neutral winery in the United States. They accomplished carbon neutrality by implementing a series of actions to reduce their carbon footprint including a solar energy installation, an energy audit, use of biodiesel in vehicles and equipment, conversion to fluorescent lighting, and planting of trees. Parducci purchased carbon offset credits from a reputable retailer for the remainder of their footprint that could not be eliminated.

Carbon neutrality is not the only way that a winery can be green. Here is a list of just a few of the wineries in Canada and New York State that are practicing sustainable, organic, or biodynamic winemaking:

Ontario

Flatrock Cellars, Tawse Winery, Henry of Pelham Family Estate, Frogpond Farm, Southbrook Vineyards, Stratus Vineyards

New York

Red Tail Ridge Winery, Atwater Estate Vineyards, Four Chimneys Organic Winery, Silver Thread Vineyard, Imagine Moore Winery

BC

Painted Turtle, Tinhorn Creek Vineyards, Summerhill Pyramid Winery, Burrowing Owl Estate Winery

Sometime soon I’ll post a follow-up list of wineries in California, Oregon, and Washington that are green. It will be a long list because these wine regions have emerged as leaders in sustainability, thanks to efforts by groups like the California Sustainable Winemaking Alliance and Oregon’s Carbon Neutral Challenge. This is very good news for those of us that want to drink green.