Tree Planting Program

Caring about the environment is one thing. Doing something about it is another.
Over the past decade coffee has improved as new technology brings gourmet name brands and "instant gratification" whether it be a french vanilla coffee or a chai tea. But many of these systems have done so at the expense of the environment. While searching for alternative ways to dispose of used coffee capsules, we have been inspired to create an initiative that doesn't just look good on paper, but is an honest and measurable attempt to reduce our carbon footprint. To understand the challenges of these capsules, let's look at the two market leaders, Keurig and Tassimo.

As per the Keurig Website “The manufacturing requirements of the K-Cup® pack currently make recycling difficult. The K-Cup® pack is made up of three main elements: the cup itself, a filter and an aluminum foil top. The pack's components prevent oxygen, light and moisture from degrading the coffee. Without the barrier the packaging materials provide, we could not maintain quality or freshness. However, we are actively working to meet the challenge of creating a pack that reduces environmental impact and continues to deliver an extraordinary cup of coffee.” From the Tassimo Website “The T DISC outer bag is composed of an aluminum, polyester and polyethylene laminate (to ensure freshness) and is suitable for energy recovery through incineration. The inner carton dispenser is composed of paperboard and is completely recyclable. For the T DISC itself, in locations where plastic collection systems exist, you can cut away the label, rinse the remaining coffee grounds or tea leaves from the chamber and deposit the chamber and label with general plastics in your blue box (non PET).Kraft is continuously working to reduce the environmental impact of its products, including TASSIMO products.”

Changes April 2012

To that end, we have developed a tree planting program for both home and office to help offset your carbon footprint. Whereas in the past, we asked you to return your capsules to us for responsible disposal, recent government regulation requires all municipal landfills in Ontario follow the same disposal protocols that we were following. We also wanted to enable our online customers to participate in this program in a more measured way. Therefore you no longer need to return used capsules to us. Instead, we have decided to plant trees as an "offset" to your purchases of capsules. While doing the math is not an exact science, based on the number of capsules we sell, we estimated that planting 33 trees per day, (averages one every 20 minutes that we are open) would make a measure difference for the future. This will happen in addition to one tree planted for every online order.

Terracycle for Tassimo

Tassimo users have additional options. We are pleased to promote www.terracycle.ca an environmentally responsible company that can turn your used Tassimo disks into new products and at the same time give money to a charity of your choice. Consumers can do this directly by signing up on their website and there is no cost! Unfortunately this program is only for Tassimo and not any other capsule system.

For the Office:

ECS Coffee Inc. has created entire systems for your office that are not only environmentally friendly, but cost effective. You can still get the great name brands that you have come to know and love, while helping the world, one cup at a time.From the Starbucks Interactive Cup Brewer, to the Reunion Island Pod program, to the K Cup Waste to Energy program, we have the solution to fit your office budget, while minimizing the effect on the environment.