ABSTRACT
Waste from coffee consumption represents an important component of landfills in the USA. Restaurants produce more garbage than most other businesses; on average, each location sends 100,000 pounds of waste annually to landfills. Disposable cups add up; Starbucks alone uses approximately 4 billion paper cups globally every year (Starbucks 2011). But that's only part of the story of coffee waste. Despite the challenges involved in reducing coffee waste and encouraging wiser consumer choices, environmentally conscientious businesses and organizations have been implementing sustainable practices. College campuses have been leaders in efforts to move toward social and environmental responsibility, and a number of them have made commitments to reduce waste and support sustainability through campus gardens and composting, fair trade purchases, sweatshop-free goods, and reductions in carbon footprints. Examination of waste streams from college campuses indicates that 55–90 percent of discarded items could be reused, recycled, or composted.
