The thought process that formed this writing piece came to me this afternoon. I was sitting in a sunlit corner of my home, taking small, quiet bites from a bar of chocolate. In that moment of solitude, feeling content with life, I began to ask myself am I doing enough to take care of our Earth?
I wonder if it has ever happened to you when you’ve found a state of euphoria. Maybe you’ve been swimming in the ocean or out walking while looking up at the sky and trees. Inside that sliver of peace and presence, you find yourself asking, how long will this last? How long will this part of our ocean remain plastic-free, or how long before we’ve cut those trees down? What a strange thing for us to have a sense of nostalgia for something that hasn’t directly happened yet.
I am aware that I am asking many questions, for which you may not have answers right now. Allow me to provide you with mine. I will no longer be pulled from my small slices of utopia to be reminded of why our planet needs us.
Where do I begin? How can I start? The questions are ringing. Start with something small that you do every day. Start a community compost, do better with your recycling, reduce your takeaway consumption. Or maybe, start with coffee.
Working alongside Nespresso has opened my eyes to many things about the coffee industry we aren’t aware of, like the production of coffee itself. This knowledge has highlighted to me how important the work they are doing is as an industry leader.
With research beginning in the early 2000s, Nespresso has woven a green infrastructure into their DNA: from the 24% reduction in carbon emissions since 2009, the availability of capsule recycling to 100% of Australian customers, Nespresso’s investment of over $860M into sustainability projects since 2014, to planting over 5.3 million trees across 9 countries and making every cup of Nespresso coffee, globally, carbon neutral by 2022.
What spoke to me most was that Nespresso works closely with 122,000 farmers inside their AAA sustainability program. They aim to ensure high-quality and sustainable coffee sourcing and help protect the welfare of the farming communities and practices from the dangers of climate change and economic volatility. It paints a very human picture and pours a green and conscious cup of coffee. One that warms me with each sip and brings me closer to that slither of peace.
When I choose Nespresso, I can see the environmentally friendly impact I’m making just by shopping consciously. I might tackle saying no to single-use plastics next or make sure I always have a reusable shopping bag. Whatever it is, I’ll be making even more of a difference.
Nostalgia comes from a Greek word that means to return home. If we all mastered one habit to help our planet, it’d be easier to master another and another. We can make sure that Earth’s green gardens and growing trees sing so that the bees can once again tell the flowers to bloom as they once did.
We can make sure that there will always be something to return home to.
What will you start with?
In partnership with Nespresso.