What makes truly great coffee? Beans, roast, water and intention

Ask ten people what makes great coffee and you’ll get ten answers about machines. The truth is less shiny: by the time water touches the portafilter, most of the outcome is already decided. Here’s what actually matters, from the people who pull your shots on Broad Street.

It starts with the bean — and with the farm. Coffee is an agricultural product before it’s a beverage. Soil, altitude, harvest timing and processing determine the ceiling of your cup; nothing a barista does can raise it, only fail to reach it. That’s why we source our coffee from growers we believe in — farms that look after the land and the people working it. Ethics aside (though we never really put ethics aside at Better World), well-paid farms simply produce better-picked cherry, and you can taste it.

Freshness beats fancy. Coffee is at its best two to four weeks after roasting, ground seconds before brewing. The most expensive machine in the world can’t fix a stale, pre-ground bag. If you do one thing for your home coffee, buy whole beans from a recent roast and grind them fresh.

Water is the invisible ingredient. A cup of coffee is more than 98% water, and water that tastes flat makes coffee that tastes flat. Filtered water with some mineral content is the sweet spot — it carries flavour without adding chlorine’s plastic edge.

Then comes intention — the unglamorous craft of doing small things consistently: dosing by weight, timing the shot, steaming milk to sweetness rather than scalding it, and tasting your own work every day. It’s the difference between a coffee program and a machine with staff standing near it. Every espresso we serve is pulled that way, whether it’s a single origin filter or the flat white that fuels half of Milford’s mornings.

Taste the difference for yourself: organic espresso, rotating single-origin filter, matcha and house-made chai at Better World Café, 320-322 Broad Street, Milford PA — open daily 8am to 6pm.

Going gluten-free without giving up baked goods: a beginner’s guide

Whether you’ve been diagnosed with coeliac disease, suspect a sensitivity, or just feel better without it, going gluten-free can feel like saying goodbye to everything good in a bakery window. It doesn’t have to. We run a dedicated gluten-free bakehouse inside our café, so consider this the beginner’s guide we wish someone had handed us.

First, the basics. Gluten is a protein found in wheat, barley and rye. That means the obvious suspects — bread, pasta, pastries, most beer — but it also hides in soy sauce, stock cubes, processed sauces and plenty of packaged snacks. The single most useful habit for a gluten-free beginner is reading ingredient labels, and the single most useful shopping rule is this: build your plate from foods that never contained gluten in the first place. Vegetables, fruit, meat, fish, eggs, rice, potatoes, beans, nuts — all naturally gluten-free, no substitutes required.

Second, don’t fall into the processed-substitute trap. A lot of supermarket gluten-free products replace wheat with refined starches and gums, then add sugar to cover for the texture. Gluten-free doesn’t automatically mean healthy. Look for baked goods made from whole ingredients — almond flour, buckwheat, oats (certified GF), seeds, real eggs and butter — which bring flavour and nutrition instead of just filling the gap.

Third, learn where cross-contamination matters. For coeliacs, a shared toaster or a dusting of regular flour is enough to cause a reaction. When you eat out, ask how the kitchen handles it. (At our bakehouse, gluten-free isn’t a menu note — it’s the whole operation.)

And the baked goods? This is where we can help. Our GF bakehouse turns out gluten-free banana bread daily, almond flour muffins in rotating flavours, seed and nut energy bars, grain-free cookies and seasonal tarts — all made with real ingredients, no fillers, no nonsense. Pair one with an organic espresso and you will not miss the wheat, we promise.

Find the GF Bakehouse inside Better World Store & Café, 320-322 Broad Street, Milford PA — open daily 8am to 6pm. Come try the banana bread that converts sceptics.

Things to do in Milford, PA: a local’s guide to the perfect day in town

Tucked into the corner where Pennsylvania meets New York and New Jersey, Milford is one of those small towns that punches far above its weight — historic streets, big forests, waterfalls, and some of the best food and browsing in the Poconos. Whether you’re up for the weekend or passing through the Delaware Water Gap, here’s how the locals would spend a day.

Start with the waterfalls. Raymondskill Falls, Pennsylvania’s tallest waterfall, is ten minutes from town in the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, and the short trail to the viewing decks is manageable for most walkers. Closer still is Grey Towers, the grand French-château-style home of Gifford Pinchot, first chief of the US Forest Service — the grounds are free to wander and the view over the Delaware Valley earns every step.

Then give yourself the afternoon on Broad Street and Harford Street, the heart of Milford’s historic district. The town is compact, walkable and genuinely independent — bookshops, antique dealers, galleries and cafés run by people who live here. Stop by us at Better World Store & Café at 320-322 Broad Street: organic espresso, a gluten-free bakehouse, a fresh juice bar, a self-sufficiency bookstore and shelves of made-in-America goods all under one roof. We’re open daily, no reservation needed, and the coffee is pulled with intention.

If wellness is your thing, Milford has quietly become a destination for it. One block from us on Catharine Street, our sister venue Health House offers red light saunas, cold plunges, oxygen training and massage — the perfect recovery stop after a morning of waterfall hiking.

Round out the day with a stroll to the Columns Museum, home of the famous Lincoln Flag, or catch a film or live show at the restored Milford Theatre. In summer, the Upper Delaware River is your playground: kayaking, tubing and swimming holes are all within twenty minutes.

Milford rewards the unhurried. Come for the falls, stay for the coffee — we’ll be here on Broad Street when you’re ready for a refill.

Golden milk benefits: why this turmeric drink earned a spot on our menu

Walk up to our juice bar and you’ll spot it on the menu: the Golden Milk smoothie — banana, turmeric, ginger and coconut milk. It’s one of our most-ordered drinks, and the questions we get about it are always the same. What actually is golden milk? And does it really do anything?

Golden milk is a modern take on haldi doodh, a turmeric-and-milk drink that’s been part of Indian home cooking and Ayurvedic tradition for centuries. The classic version warms turmeric, ginger and black pepper in milk. Ours blends the same core ingredients into a cold smoothie with banana and coconut milk — same idea, Milford summer approved.

Turmeric’s active compound is curcumin, one of the most-studied plant compounds in the world. Research links curcumin with supporting a healthy inflammatory response, which is why golden milk has become a favourite of athletes, arthritis sufferers and anyone who wakes up stiff. Ginger brings its own credentials — it’s been used for digestion for about as long as humans have written things down. And coconut milk isn’t just there for creaminess: curcumin is fat-soluble, so pairing turmeric with a source of fat helps your body actually absorb it.

A note on honesty, because that’s how we do things at Better World: golden milk is a nutritious drink, not a miracle cure. The research on curcumin is promising but ongoing, and a smoothie is not a substitute for medical advice. What we can tell you is that every ingredient in ours is real, organic where possible, and blended fresh when you order it — no syrups, no powders of mystery origin.

Getting the most from it is simple: drink it regularly rather than once, pair it with food, and if you’re new to turmeric, start with our Golden Milk smoothie or a turmeric immunity shot and see how you feel over a couple of weeks.

We make every golden milk smoothie to order at the juice bar inside Better World Store, 320-322 Broad Street, Milford PA — open daily 9am to 5pm. Come thirsty, leave golden.

Gluten-Free in Milford, PA: Pastries & Treats Done Right

Eating gluten-free in a small town can feel like a scavenger hunt. Menus offer one sad option, or none at all. At BetterWorld in Milford, PA, we took a different approach: most of our pastries are baked celiac-friendly from the start — not as an afterthought, but as a core part of how we do things.

Widest range of Gluten-Free options in the Poconos

We bake fresh everyday to give you something most celiacs miss out on: choice. Muffins, cookies, chicken pies, parfaits, cakes, slices, parfaits, and all manner of goodies you’d usually have to walk past at a french patisserie, including a few GF vegan options, even GF sourdough bread. And we make them so well the gluten-lovers don’t even notice that their gluten free. Nobody misses out on their treats here.

Why we skip the wheat

We bake without wheat flour for most of our pastries, and not only for guests with gluten allergies or sensitivities. Here’s our thinking: unless it’s freshly milled right before baking, wheat flour has very little nutritional value and tends to trigger an inflammatory response in a lot of people. So we leave it out where we can and bake with organic, wholesome ingredients instead. The result is a display case of treats you can actually feel good about eating. (One important note: our pastries contain nuts, so please let us know about allergies before you order.)

More than just the baked goods

Being gluten-conscious isn’t only about pastries — it’s about the whole experience. Pair your treat with an organic coffee from our Aussie-style espresso bar (with the cleanest whole-food ingredients around), or keep it light with a fresh-pressed juice or an açaí bowl from our juice bar two doors down. And if you’re stocking your own kitchen, our health food store carries organic and wholesome pantry goods, sourced as locally as we can manage — a genuine resource for anyone eating clean in the Milford area.

Baking with a bigger mission

Everything we make ties back to why BetterWorld exists. We support local growers, pay our team fair wages, choose glass over plastic wherever possible, and put our profits toward saving the local Santos Farm from becoming a gas station and strip mall. So your gluten-free morning treat is also a small vote for a healthier, more local food system.

Come taste for yourself

Our café is open 8:00am–6:00pm every day and the juice bar and health food store are open 8:00am–6:00pm daily, at 322 Broad Street, Milford, PA 18337. What’s on the display case changes, so pop in to see what we’ve baked today — or call 570-832-8555 to ask. Gluten-free in Milford just got a whole lot better.

Milford’s New Juice Bar: Fresh Juices, Smoothies & Açaí Bowls

If you’ve been driving out of town every time you crave a fresh juice or an açaí bowl, we have good news: Milford, PA has its own juice bar now. Better World’s juice bar sits just two doors down from our café on Broad Street, and it’s built around one simple promise — real, fresh ingredients that make you feel good.

Fresh juices with personality

Our fresh juices come in kid (10oz) and full (16oz) sizes, and each one has its own character. Favorites include Green Dream (apple, kiwi, lemon, and baby spinach), Blushing Beet (beet, orange, apple, strawberry, lime, and ginger), Pine For You (pineapple, apple, mint, and lime), Soulful Ginger (apple, carrot, beet, lime, and ginger), and Hardcore Veg (carrot, cucumber, celery, and beet) for the purists.

Smoothies and super smoothies

If you like your fruit blended and creamy, our smoothies deliver. Try Strawberry Fields (strawberries, banana, maple) or the tropical blend of coconut, passionfruit, mango, and peach. Want something that works harder? Our super smoothies layer in superfoods — the “Tastes Like Snickers” (banana, peanut butter, cacao, maca, mesquite, and date) is a customer favorite, and the Mango Lassi with lucuma and pink salt is pure sunshine.

Açaí bowls done right

Our açaí bowls start with a rich blend of açaí, blueberries, banana, mango, and raspberries, then get topped with granola, coconut, cacao nibs, kiwi, and strawberries. It’s the kind of bowl that feels like dessert and fuels like breakfast — perfect before or after a hike in the Delaware Water Gap.

Fresh, organic, and full of purpose

Like everything at Better World, our juice bar leans organic and local when possible, and every order supports our bigger mission: saving Santos Farm and building a regenerative food future right here in Milford. Order a juice, earn “acorns” in our loyalty program, and do a little good while you’re at it.

Stop by

The juice bar and health food store are open 9:00am–5:00pm daily at 320 Broad Street, Milford, PA 18337. Come discover your new go-to order — and bring a friend. Call 570-832-8555 to learn more.

A Weekend in the Poconos: Where to Refuel With Real Food & Great Coffee

The Pocono Mountains draw visitors for a reason: waterfalls, forests, river towns, and that unmistakable slow-down-and-breathe feeling. If your weekend is taking you to the northern Poconos, make time for Milford, PA — and let BetterWorld be your home base for real food and great coffee.

Saturday morning: ease in

Kick off in downtown Milford with an organic coffee at BetterWorld, 320–322 Broad Street. Our Aussie-style espresso bar pulls everything with a double shot as standard, and every ingredient — beans, milk, flavors — is organic. Pair it with a gluten-free pastry and you’re ready to explore.

Get outside

The Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area is the crown jewel of this corner of the Poconos. Hike to Raymondskill Falls, Pennsylvania’s tallest waterfall, or walk a stretch of the 30-mile McDade Trail along the Delaware River. History lovers should tour Grey Towers National Historic Site and the Columns Museum in town.

Refuel the smart way

Weekends in the mountains are active, and your body will thank you for something fresh. Our juice bar serves fresh juices, smoothies, and açaí bowls made to actually nourish — try our signature Soulful Ginger juice or our Mango Lassi smoothie. It beats a gas-station snack every time, and it’s just a couple of doors from the café.

Take a little BetterWorld home

Before you head back, browse our health food and sustainability store for organic pantry staples, wholesome gifts, and locally made goods. Here’s what makes shopping here different: your spending helps prove our “do-no-harm” business model, defunding forced labor and helps save Santos Farm — 28 acres of Milford farmland — from becoming a gas station and strip mall, and helps fund a regenerative farm and education center in its place. It’s conscious commerce, and it’s the kind of souvenir that keeps giving.

Weekend hours

Café: 8:00am–6:00pm every day. Juice bar and health food store: 9:00am–5:00pm daily. Find us at 320–322 Broad Street, Milford, PA 18337, or call 570-832-8555. However you spend your Poconos weekend, start it with us.

Things to Do in Milford, PA: A Perfect Day Itinerary

Tucked into Pike County along the Delaware River, Milford, PA is one of the most picturesque small towns in the state — tree-lined streets, preserved architecture, and the wild beauty of the Pocono Mountains right on its doorstep. If you’ve got a day to explore, here’s how to spend it, with the right fuel along the way.

Morning: coffee, then history

Start where the locals start — with an organic coffee at Better World on Broad Street. Grab a flat white and a gluten-free pastry, then walk into downtown Milford’s historic district. Two must-sees are close by: Grey Towers National Historic Site, the 1886 summer estate of the Pinchot family and home to Gifford Pinchot — Pennsylvania governor and founder of the US Forest Service — and the Columns Museum, which houses one of the country’s most remarkable artifacts: the flag President Lincoln was wrapped in the night he was shot.

Midday: chase a waterfall

You can walk almost straight from downtown into the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. Don’t miss Raymondskill Falls, the tallest waterfall in Pennsylvania at a combined 150 feet — just a few feet shy of Niagara. If you’d rather stretch your legs, the McDade Trail, Milford Knob, and Cliff Trail all serve up river and ridge views.

Afternoon: refuel and refresh

All that fresh air earns you a stop back at our juice bar. A cold-pressed juice like Pine For You (pineapple, apple, mint, and lime) or an açaí bowl is exactly the reset you need before the drive home. Prefer something indulgent? Our floatte — an iced drink made with ice cream instead of ice — is a local secret.

Before you go: shop with purpose

Round out your day in our health food and sustainability store, where you’ll find organics, wholesome goods, vetted books, and toys made to last — much of it sourced as locally as possible. Every purchase helps us save Santos Farm from development and build a regenerative food forest for the community.

The details

Better World is at 320–322 Broad Street, Milford, PA 18337. Café: 8:00am–6:00pm daily. Juice bar and store: 9:00am–5:00pm daily. Call 570-832-8555. Make us your first and last stop — your perfect Milford day starts and ends here.

Breakfast in Milford, PA: Where Locals Are Starting Their Day

Milford, PA has no shortage of charm, but finding a breakfast spot that’s genuinely good for you — not just good — can be another story. That’s the gap Better World set out to fill. Whether you’re a local starting your workday or a visitor easing into a weekend in the Poconos, here’s how to do breakfast the Better World way.

Start with the coffee (or the matcha)

Everything on our espresso bar is organic, from the beans to the milk to the flavors, and our water runs through six stages of filtration before it hits the machine. Order an Aussie-style flat white, a sweet matcha latte, or a cozy turmeric latte. Not a coffee person? Our organic teas and iced beverages — including cold brew and lemonades — have you covered.

Fresh juices, smoothies, and açaí bowls

Two doors down at our juice bar, breakfast gets bright. Fresh juices like Green Dream (apple, kiwi, lemon, and baby spinach) and Blushing Beet wake you up without the crash. Our smoothies range from Strawberry Fields to the cult-favorite “Tastes Like Snickers” super smoothie. And our açaí bowls — piled with fruit, granola, coconut, and cacao nibs — are the kind of breakfast that feels like a treat and eats like fuel.

Pastries that won’t weigh you down

The pastries on our café display are baked with clean whole-food ingredients, and most are made without wheat flour — not just for those with gluten sensitivities, but because freshly milled, wholesome baking simply feels better in your body. (Heads up: our pastries contain nuts.) Want something savory? Ask about our toasted ham and cheese croissants.

A breakfast with a bigger purpose

When you choose BetterWorld for breakfast, you’re supporting organic growers, fair wages for our team, our greater mission of defunding global slavery and our local mission to save a local farm from becoming a strip mall. Every order earns “acorns” in our loyalty program, too — our way of rewarding you for shopping local and choosing sustainable.

Plan your visit

Find us at 320–322 Broad Street, Milford, PA 18337. The café opens at 8:00am daily and the juice bar and health food store open at 9:00am. Come hungry, leave nourished — and maybe grab a few things from the store on your way out. Call 570-832-8555 with any questions.

The Best Coffee in Milford, PA: Why BetterWorld Brews Differently

If you’ve been searching for a proper cup of coffee in Milford, PA, you’ve probably noticed there’s a new organic coffee shop on Broad Street — and it isn’t quite like the others. At BetterWorld, the espresso is only the beginning. Everything in the cup is chosen with your health, your community, and the planet in mind.

Organic from bean to cup

Coffee is one of the most heavily sprayed crops in the world, and some of the chemicals used on it overseas are banned here in the US. That’s why every coffee we pull is organic — and so is the decaf, the teas, the milk, and even the flavors. It’s a simple idea: your morning ritual shouldn’t add to your body’s toxic load.

We bake with organic ingredients whenever we can, and where wheat doesn’t earn its place we leave it out entirely.

Water you can actually taste the difference in

Great coffee is mostly water, so we treat it that way. The water and ice at BetterWorld pass through six stages of filtration before they ever reach the espresso machine. We even filter the air inside the café. It sounds obsessive — it is — but it’s the kind of detail that turns a good latte into one you remember.

Aussie-style coffee, small-town warmth

Our menu is built Australian-style, which means every espresso drink is made to exact ratios with a double shot as standard — a flat white, a cortado, a proper macchiato, all pulled the way a good Melbourne café would. Prefer something cozier? Try a turmeric latte, a London Fog, a sweet or unsweet matcha, or a chai. We’ve got organic whole, skim, and half-and-half, plus oat, almond, soy, and coconut alternatives.

Feeling adventurous when the weather warms up? Our signature “floattes” are iced drinks made with ice cream instead of ice — the affogato is a local favorite.

Coffee that does more than wake you up

Here’s the part that makes BetterWorld different from any other coffee shop in Milford: every cup helps fund something bigger. We’re using conscious commerce to help defund global slavery, plus save our local Santos Farm — 28 acres of local farmland slated to become a gas station and strip mall — and to grow a regenerative farm and community food hub in its place. Your latte is quietly doing good.

Bring your own cup and we’ll take 10% off. It’s a small swap that keeps plastic out of the landfill and a few more coins in your pocket.

Come find us

You’ll find BetterWorld at 320–322 Broad Street, Milford, PA 18337. The café is open 8:00am–6:00pm every single day. Swing by, order something warm, and taste why Milford’s coffee lovers are making us their new regular. Questions? Call us at 570-832-8555.

The best locally-sourced organic foods near Milford, PA — and how to find them

One of the most powerful things you can do for your health — and for your community — is eat food grown nearby. Here’s a guide to finding genuinely local, organic food in and around Milford, Pennsylvania.

Why local matters more than organic

The USDA organic certification is a meaningful standard, but it doesn’t tell you how far your food has travelled, how fresh it is, or whether the farm is thriving or struggling. A certified organic tomato from California has been on a truck for four days. A tomato from a farm in Pike County that’s grown without pesticides (even if uncertified) was in the ground yesterday.

Whenever possible, we encourage people to prioritise local over certified-organic. Then local and organic. Then certified-organic from elsewhere. The closer to home, the better.

What we carry at BetterWorld

At the BetterWorld Store, we stock organic pantry staples, superfoods, and health products from American producers or traders we trust. We’re continuously expanding our local sourcing — if you know of a local producer we should be talking to, please introduce us.

Pike County farmers markets

Pike County has a growing local food scene. Check the local Milford Facebook groups for current market schedules — they change seasonally.

Foraging in the Delaware Water Gap

The forests and fields around Milford and the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area are rich foraging territory — ramps, elderberries, wild mushrooms, black walnuts, and much more are available seasonally. We stock field guides in our bookstore to help you identify what’s edible and what’s not. Always forage responsibly and learn before you eat.

Growing your own

The most local food of all is food you grow. Our homestead supplies section carries heirloom seeds, growing guides, and everything you need to start a kitchen garden — even if your space is limited. A few containers on a porch can produce a surprising amount of salad, herbs, and tomatoes through a Pennsylvania summer.

Come in and talk to us — we love this stuff, and we’re happy to point you in the right direction.

Why we only stock Made-in-America and FreeWorld goods — and what that really means

When we say we stock Made-in-America goods, we’re not waving a flag. We’re making a practical, ethical, and economic argument.

What “Made in America” actually means

A product made in America means jobs stay here. It means the manufacturing is subject to US environmental and labour regulations — which, for all their imperfections, are significantly stronger than many of the countries where cheap alternatives are produced. It means shorter supply chains, lower transport emissions, and greater transparency about how things are made.

It also means you can find out more about it. You can call the company. You can visit the facility. You can hold producers accountable in a way that simply isn’t possible when a product ships from halfway around the world.

Why it matters at BetterWorld

We started BetterWorld with a commitment: we would only stock things we genuinely believed in. For us, that means understanding where a product comes from, who made it, and under what conditions.

We found, consistently, that the products meeting that standard were American-made. Not always — we stock some exceptional international goods, particularly in coffee and certain supplements. But when we can source domestically, we do as a priority.

What to look for

Not all “Made in USA” claims are equal. Look for products that specify: assembled in the USA with domestic and foreign components (partial), assembled in the USA from US components (strong), or manufactured in the USA from start to finish (best). When in doubt, ask us — we know the supply chains of everything on our shelves.

The bigger picture

Every dollar you spend on a locally-made, independently-produced good is a vote for the kind of economy you want to live in. It’s not a sacrifice — the quality is usually better. It’s just a choice, made deliberately.

Come in and see what we’ve curated. We think you’ll be glad you did.

New Health Spa

It’s finally ready! Milford’s own OxyGym+™️! It’s the latest in wellness tech and a powerhouse for longevity, performance, relieving pain and fighting inflammation. And it’s only available at our wellness facility – the Health House – just 90 seconds from the cafe.

This particular installation is a world-first, designed for ultra-efficient, express wellness. With our unique take on the “SuperHuman Protocol” by Da Vinci Medical, plus several of our own enhancements, this combination of technologies essentially fast-tracks and amplifies the healing power of nature. This gives us a long, long list of health goals we can now help you achieve, while genuinely doing no harm, and still being able to maintain a busy lifestyle.

Most come away from a session in the OxyGym+™️ wellness rooms with a renewed sense of calm, while feeling brighter and lighter, with more energy and far less pain or muscle soreness.

What is it exactly? Three private rooms with a series of self-guided wellness technologies that act as an awesome bio-hack stack:

Behind Door #1 we have SuperEarthing™️ – a relaxing 20 minute combination of Pulsed ElectroMagnetic Field therapy (PEMF), a lymphatic support and spinal relief device, with additional bilateral nerve stimulation to aid with sleep, calm and happiness;

Behind Door #2 we have the OxyGym™️ – the main event with a 20 minute revitalizing combination of Exercise With Oxygen Therapy (EWOT), Whole Body Vibration, Red Light Therapy and further PEMF therapy;

Aaaand behind Door #3 we have the SuperSauna™️ – a 30 minute far-infrared sauna detox with further NIR light therapy, and a steam chamber for respiratory health and/or cold rinsing station for optional cold therapy.

We’ve really crammed a whole lot of wellness into what little space we could muster on our health food side, but it’s all just a prelude to bigger things still to come. We have long dreamed of providing practical solutions to help foster health and happiness for all and are really excited to launch this particular passion project.

The following videos from Da Vinci Medical provide a great overview of the Superhuman Protocol – the foundational elements of the OxyGym™️.

All three of these technologies mentioned in the videos are available simultaneously in our OxyGym™️ room as the quickest way to do it all, yet you also have the option of enhancing the experience by preluding it with greater circulation from SuperEarthing™️ and/or conclude with a relaxing detox in your own fortress of solitude with the SuperSauna™️. Do one, or do them all – whatever you have time for.

See prices and book an appointment online at www.milfordhealthhouse.com or pop in at 110 E Catharine St, Milford PA to arrange a time to recharge and relax. They also do massage, natural facials, reflexology and a whole lot more.

Why are we here?

If you’ve heard our accent, you’ll note we’re not exactly from around here. We came over from Western Australia only a few years ago. The most common question we’re asked is why?…why here?

Indeed, creating a store in rural America was never our plan, but we’re so happy we landed here.

[Placeholder image: Aussies at large: Liam, Tegan & little Cedric.]

Our journey began with humanitarian work. We initially came to interview survivors of Chinese slave labor camps with the intent to develop a museum exhibit to help tell their stories and ultimately end a genocide that is tied to China’s labor camp network. There are a growing number of Chinese refugees that have escaped and taken haven in New York and Orange County, which is what drew us to this particular area. The more victims we met that shared their experiences of torture, rape and all manners of evil while being forced to make goods for those of us living in the West, the more passionate we grew about avoiding goods made in China.

Then when Covid-19 halted our museum plans, we shifted our attention to other peaceful solutions to what is happening over there – solutions we can all participate in. Global diplomacy has proven useless, so defunding the Chinese regime by adapting our spending habits and effectively boycotting tyranny has become the only remaining solution. This tactic is true not only for China, but all other systems that enslave their people.

And thanks to Freedom House, global tyranny has already been mapped out for us. We use their Freedom Map to discern which countries are safer to buy from. We’ve been quite pleasantly surprised by how much is still made here in the US and the rest of the free world. Boycotting China while in Australia just wasn’t possible. With barely any local manufacturing left Downunder, and Aussie politicians having all but sold their souls to the Chinese regime, it was easy to feel powerless. But here, with a little research, it is still viable to find a local option or, in the absence of such, an ethical choice from another free nation.

Inspired by the potential, we figured we could try and do something about the other problems the world is facing too. My background is in media and health, and Tegan is an educator with a PhD in environmental science. So we teamed up to map out global censorship, human rights abuse, neglect and environmental destruction. Such a map allows us to see what each offender has in common and gives us a big picture view of their impact on the world. China and Russia have proven themselves to be the worst of all.

We emphasize that it is not the people of these countries that are evil, but the authorities that control them. We determined that even when purchasing goods from an otherwise ethical supplier in these countries, the products are still being taxed by tyrants, thus funding further oppression or environmental damage.

Covid-19 was a wakeup call for what can happen when all our eggs are in one vulnerable basket. A country that doesn’t produce its own goods is on shaky ground. As more people started revising their lifestyles to be more self-sufficient, we saw how much more sustainable that way of living is. Any area that can produce for itself is in a healthier position during global crises; additionally, they also place less demand on international resources. This is also true on a personal level.

Looking into what it means to truly live sustainably through greater self-sufficiency showed us that, when done correctly, everyone wins. Not only is it more economical, it is also better for the environment and helps defund the slave labor market that is eroding humanity.

We started to build a PR campaign to encourage people to start buying according to their values and realized we had to first test that it was possible. And that’s the point in which the store came into play. We were able to not only find enough products to stock one store, but two (we have another store nextdoor), plus source all of the equipment for our cafe almost without a single product from countries like China… there were only a few exceptions – an electric tea kettle and the printing of some of our books (in order to still support local authors).

And that’s the good news. It is possible! It just means investing a little more in local options and a whole lot of research to find them. We recognize research takes time, which is why we share what we know and find. The fair trade market is vast, and we hope to add a lot more product lines as we move forward.

Thanks for being a part of this amazing journey! We couldn’t do it without your support.

Better Origins: How we choose our suppliers

We set out to establish a business that truly does no harm to the earth, or the lives it sustains. So we care about product origins a lot more than most.

For us, it’s local first. If someone is making goods we need in our neighborhood, they’re our obvious choice. We can better see who we’re supporting, what values they uphold, how they do what they do, and we know where to turn if quality falls short of expectations. The same holds true for the rest of the country, to an extent. It’s the single best choice we can all make for the sustainability of our society. And less transportation generally means less resources consumed, which makes it a win win.

Yet, not everything can or is made locally, and even if it is, it’s not always a suitable choice. Local suppliers can’t always keep up with demand, or necessarily care for product quality, or even know what to do when a retailer comes knocking. So some things just have to be sourced overseas.

But which countries are safer to buy from than others? How do we avoid slave labor, environmental destruction, toxic ingredients from areas with different health standards to ours, and even funding genocidal regimes when we can’t meet our makers?

These are big questions. But thankfully, there are organizations such as Freedom House have already mapped these things out for us.

Head to freedomhouse.org/explore-the-map to discover how each country scores in their freedom index

Buying ethically is still possible. We’ve managed to not only stock our entire store, but also equip our cafe, purely from the Free World, principally the US. And here’s how we choose where to draw the line on product origins when we have to venture overseas:

Are the people of that country free? Would we ultimately be helping them or hurting them? Will they be taxed by tyrants or terrorists? What impact will they leave on their local (and our global) environment?

There are actually maps for all these things. Freedom house is where we start…

Hold that thought. I have to rush off to go open up the store now. I’ll show you those maps shortly.

TO BE CONTINUED.

The Pandemic - an Opportunity to Rethink Our Way of Life

A look back at 2020, and looking forward to thriving and supporting local businesses…

For those who are prone to anxiety attacks, there was no better fodder than the daily news of doom, gloom, and uncertainty that was being churned out by media during the early spring of last year. But even that would not have been enough to cause the great toilet paper shortage of 2020, when people went on such a mad buying spree as to leave others perplexed and paperless.

If you were one of those who already had ample supplies, it was the only comic relief that made us reflect on the psychology of panic. It’s not as if it was a cholera pandemic after all, and people were not suddenly going to the bathroom so much more then before, even if we did spend more time than ever sequestered in our homes.

Following that, things didn’t look up much really. But, the pandemic has definitely forced us to rethink our priorities, to be thankful for what we do have, and to appreciate the simpler things in life – family, relationships in general, and the human connection.

The lock-down munchies

It has also forced us to rethink our shopping and eating habits. For instance, for those who live in a big city, in the before times we might have made a couple of trips a week to a supermarket for non-consumables and basics like milk and bread, while we got by with fast-food or ate out at up-scale restaurants for the rest of the week.

During the first months of 2020, when the lockdown was more extreme, places like pizza restaurants saw a surge in business because they already had the infrastructure to cope with it. But there were many city businesses who didn’t adapt and sadly closed down.

In the beginning, city dwellers were caught out trying to think of what to eat without having to buy ingredients and learning how to cook, so they did the next best thing – eat a lot of take-out. But people soon adapted to the new normal by realizing that living on take-out is not financially viable in the long run. And the lockdown kept being extended.

So they got to cookin’.

Bulk items like flour, sugar, spices and canned goods flew off the shelves. Supermarkets had people taking selfies with the backdrop of empty shelves to document the severity of the situation.

Patience and preserves

In rural areas, the situation was not much different. Canning, as in preserving fruits and vegetables in jars, must have reached a peak because there was not a jar in sight to be bought. Even now, it’s hard to find glass jars for preserving food, which brings up the issue of prepping.

We wouldn’t be wrong if we hoped for the best, but who’s to say that things won’t get worse before they get better? Even if we don’t experience more lockdowns, a major recession is not unlikely given government overspending and even the suspension of imports from major trade-partners. This is not to scare you. We’re still optimistic for the future. It’s just that preparing for all possibilities isn’t that crazy anymore. The question is how to do it sustainably.

During an extreme lockdown when non-essential businesses are closed, it may be tempting to go to the nearest big box store or hypermarket to stock up on certain goods. That might be a good idea when it comes to things such as paper, sanitary products, and cleaning products that are manufactured in huge quantities by large factories, but there are many consumables that would be best bought closer to home. This is invaluable for small-scale farms and businesses that rely on local traffic to keep them going.

It’s well worth searching for those suppliers that sell direct to the public and are within a relatively short distance of home. They’re the ones you want to have a good relationship with during harder times. Plus, by supporting them now, you may well earn yourself a prioritized customer status with them later when they become overwhelmed with demand, especially in a future where the imports that big box stores rely on are no longer an option.

Think local

Here is a list of places that are worth having on your side, regardless of what the future holds:

• Dairy farms - for dairy products such milk, cheese, butter, yoghurt, kefir, but also eggs, honey, and locally made jellies etc.

• Farms that sell grass-fed meats such as beef, pork, chicken, lamb, bison, turkey, including cured meats that have a much longer shelf-life

• Fruit orchards - will usually have a direct to public store where they sell more than just fruit; so one might find baked goods, preserves, eggs, honey, etc.

• Flour mills - these guys usually sell direct online and offer more than just wheat flour

• Bakeries - for real breads and all things delicious

• Coffee roasters

• Cottage industry artisans that sell hand-made soaps, ointments, and other products that are crafted without toxic chemicals

• Farmer’s markets of course are a great place to source and get to know suppliers of all of the above.

• Wood suppliers of split and weathered wood for wood-stoves

• Lumber yards and building material suppliers

• Local hardware stores for emergency supplies like light bulbs, batteries, etc.

And if you are one of the thousands of ex-city dwellers who has recently relocated to the country as part of the urban exodus and you’re thinking of starting a business, here are some additional ideas to those above for what might come in demand in a more locally focused world:

• Organic permaculture supply store to aid self-sufficiency & suburban farming

• Butcher/small-scale meat processing facility where people can take their livestock to be butchered (Think of how many people would love to keep a pig or chickens for food, and now think of how many would like the thought of actually slaughtering them for food - now you get the picture.)

• Crafting workshop to teach knitting, sewing, weaving, felt-making, etc. in person and online

• Dress-maker & tailor shop where people can have clothes made to measure, or mended

• Shoe-maker – for shoe-repair as well as custom creations

• Yarn and fabric supply store

• Sawmill to produce local finished lumber

• Furniture maker without the designer prices

• Blacksmith for all things metal that we often take for granted

• Glassmith & pottery for essential, plastic-free homewares

• Grain supply depot to stock and sell various grains & seeds

• Industrial composting to feed all those new vegetable gardens

• And anything we currently purely rely on importing really.

It’s not just during hard times that shopping local matters. It’s these smaller industries that are truly essential and need to be kept afloat for the sake of our economy and to sustain community wellbeing.

Check back soon for our list of all the local suppliers we’ve found in our area.

Got any other suggestions? Comment below.

Let’s get trashed

Trash, garbage, rubbish, refuse, call it what you will, it means something we don’t want any more and have the compulsion to throw away so as not to have to deal with it. The recyclable stuff, we hope, makes it to a processing place that solves the issue for us in an environmentally friendly way, and relieves our collective consciences. The other stuff that is biodegradable and decays relatively fast, we trust, will be dumped where it can break down, away from our noses and feed the soil.

At BetterWorld, we’ve set ourselves the goal of creating a business that doesn’t contribute to landfill. We only supply goods in reusable, biodegradable or recyclable packaging so as to make it easier for our customers to do the right thing.

So, what really happens with the contents of recycle bins, as well as the other bins filled with everything else that we want to forget about? The answer to this is not as simple as one might hope. But first, a little background on where we stand.

What on Earth?

In history, you may come across terms like the bronze age, the golden age, the age of enlightenment, so you might be compelled to ponder what name would best suit the age we’re living in now. Well, it doesn’t take much thought to figure out the prevalence of one particular material that would lend its name to our times: plastic. Yes, we’re in the ‘golden’ age of plastics.

Never has any material been so ubiquitous in our daily use as plastics. And it’s getting to the point where the macro is becoming micro. Plastic has now been found even in our blood, in the form of nano particles. Since plastic is not something that animals or humans have had to deal with before, unsurprisingly it can wreak havoc with our hormones and produce mutations that translate into epigenetic inheritance of obesity from one generation to the next, as well as reproductive diseases. There are plenty of studies that pertain to the fact that we, as humans, are not built to be ingesting or breathing (yes, breathing) in the stuff.

But here we will discuss the looming mountains of non-biodegradable garbage that we are generating, with no clear-cut solution in sight. The reason for most of our garbage not being biodegradable is plastic - which is made from crude oil, natural gas and coal derivatives, all of which are non-renewable resources, and which are combined into hardy and noxious plastics that can take up to 500 years to decay.

Will recycling save us?

Multinational companies that produce plastic or the materials to make it, are not interested in slowing down, because that’s how they make their money.

Garbage disposal companies collect, sort, sell or burn it, so they’re not in the business of creating environmentally friendly alternatives. At best, they sell the sorted stuff to companies that process it for further use.

Us, consumers, have been conditioned to use plastic products to the point that we need to think hard before we can unlearn the habits of storing everything in plastic, or what is even harder, try to buy anything that doesn’t come in plastic, apart from fresh produce. There are plenty of people who are worried about what we are doing to the planet, but until it becomes an economic problem, it’s hard to make the big guys hear.

But we cannot let cynicism and hopelessness dictate the future. We must do what we can, at least so as not to contribute to the problem.

Know your numbers

So, what is plastic? Petrochemical plants convert compounds derived from oil and gas - such as ethane, propane, butane, and methane - into chemicals like ethylene, propylene, butadiene, and methanol.

These chemicals are then used to make various types of plastics, industrial chemicals, agricultural pesticides.

While we all know what ‘plastic’ means in general, when it comes down to the way that we dispose of our plastics, it’s not so simple. It’s a game of numbers. According to the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) the numbers shown inside those triangular arrows we are all familiar with was developed by the Society of Plastics Industry. Each number refers to different types of resins used in making plastic products and containers that have different characteristics. This numbering system also denotes whether a particular type is biodegradable or recyclable. The DEC lists the following types of plastic, and a short explanation about how each type may be recycled.

1 - PET (Polyethylene terephthalate) is used in the production of soft drink bottles, peanut butter jars. PET can be recycled into fiberfill for sleeping bags, carpet fibers, rope, pillows.

2 - HDPE (High-density polyethylene) is found in milk jugs, detergent and shampoo bottles. HDPE can be recycled into non-food bottles and recycling bins.

3 - V (Polyvinyl chloride) PVC is used in personal care products and other household goods. PVC can be recycled into drainage and irrigation pipes.

4 - LDPE (Low-density polyethylene) is used in bubble wrap, shrink wrap and bread bags. LDPE can be recycled into furniture and flooring.

5 - PP (Polypropylene) is used in dairy products tubs. PP can be recycled into brooms, brushes and garden rakes.

6 - PS (Polystyrene) is unique in that it comes in many different forms. It can be found as both a rigid, clear plastic as well as a foamed material where the plastic has been “expanded” by air into a foam. Polystyrene is also used in other different forms for construction and building projects.

Expanded Polystyrene foam is commonly found in disposable food containers used for prepared food and beverages such as takeout containers, cups, plates, bowls and trays as well as loose fill packaging materials (packing peanuts) and trays used for packaged raw meat, fish and eggs.

Currently, the majority of local recycling programs for residential areas do not accept this material for recycling because it can be difficult to sort, can decrease the value of other recyclables through contamination, and is not economically viable.

7 - Other - This category is a Mixture of various plastics

Plastic bags are a type of film plastic and film plastics should NOT be put in household recycling bins. They must be clean and not have any receipts in them after which they should only be put in special film plastics recycling bins that stores must provide customers by law, in a visible, easily accessible location. According to the DEC, if film plastics collection containers are not available in a regulated store, the DEC advises to email recycling@dec.ny.gov or call (518) 402-8706 (they will need the store name and address). Acceptable Film Plastics for Return to Retail Film Plastic Recycling include grocery bags, retail bags with string ties removed, stretch/shrink wrap, zip top food storage bags, bubble wrap, air pillows found inside shipping packages (must be deflated), furniture and electronic wrap, etc.

As far as the numbers designated to each type of plastic, the DEC also points out that even when packaging or products have these symbols stamped on them, it does not necessarily mean the item is recyclable in our local recycling program. For that, we are told that we must check our local recycling coordinator to find out what types of plastic containers are accepted.

So at BetterWord, that’s what we did. We asked Recycling Coordinator at Orange County Division of Environmental Facilities and Services Ermin Siljkovic about the challenges that the recycling business has been facing through the Covid 19 lockdown.

Challenges

Siljkovic said that “over the better part of 2020, we have seen a steep drop in participation from commercial sources due to the lockdown and a glut of material coming from households, especially mixed paper and cardboard due to the increase in online purchases. There is also the potential of increased contamination of recycling with the sudden prevalence of PPE (masks, gloves, etc.) in the solid waste stream”.

Orange County has three operating transfer stations and, according to Siljkovic, “on a busy day, up to four or five trailers of Single Stream Recyclables get sent to Albany and one to two trailers of Mixed Paper.” Single-stream recycling refers to a system that doesn’t require consumers to do any sorting. All recyclable items (paper fibers, plastics, metals, and other containers) are placed in the same bin and mixed in the collection truck. These materials are later sorted out at a Materials Recovery Facility (MRF).

BUT recyclable garbage is only recyclable if it is clean. More on that later.

And one might ask, what happens to plastics that don’t have the recycling symbol on them?

“The Plastics Resin Code has little bearing on determining whether something is recyclable or not. While #s 1 and 2 may more than likely be a bottle or jug that can be accepted as recycling, #6 and #7 may be Polystyrene or a “compostable” plastic that is not accepted. The basic rule of thumb we should follow for plastic is that it must be a rigid plastic container and not be foam, film, or a straw,” writes Siljkovic. He advises that residents should check out the Single Stream Recycling Guide.

When it comes to the number 6 type plastic, PS (Polystyrene), it is not currently accepted for recycling by the majority of local recycling programs for residents “because it can be difficult to sort, can decrease the value of other recyclables through contamination, and is not economically viable,” writes Siljkovic, adding that “the inevitable end point for Polystyrene is in a landfill or incinerator.”

Polystyrene is particularly tricky because in the environment it breaks down into small pieces that can be ingested by animals, clogging their digestive system. Polystyrene foam and other plastics that are ingested by marine animals may also bioaccumulate up the food chain.

Incineration - is there anything good about it?

According to a National Geographic article, incineration plants can emit toxic pollutants such as dioxins, acid gases, and heavy metals - none of which are easy substances for our human lungs to cope with. And even though there are special filters to capture noxious compounds, this implies compliance with the latest technology so as to ensure proper filtration. Countries that are already lacking environmental laws, or strict enforcement, may try to save money on emissions controls. The article also points out the incineration also produces a constant stream of greenhouse gases. “In 2016, U.S. waste incinerators released the equivalent of 12 million tons of carbon dioxide, more than half of which came from plastics.”

Also, do we want to support an economic model which uses non-renewable fossil fuels that already pollute the natural environment when used to produce plastics, that we use one time only, before we burn and produce even more toxic waste in that process? This is what is happening right now. Realistically speaking, even if plastics stop being produced right now, we would still need years of cleaning up to get rid of all the waste in our landfills and water ways.

The promise of compostable cups

Feeding into our preference for disposable products, there is a movement of sorts that seeks to make disposable containers that are at least compostable, if not destined for multiple use. When something is compostable it means that it can be used as compost when it decays. But, at the risk of sounding like a total killjoy, compostable cups are … not that compostable. In theory, yes, they are. But what people don’t realize is that these kinds of cups take years to break down and throwing them out in landfill doesn’t solve the problem.

According to the article “The compostable cup conundrum”, in practice, compostable cups break down in an industrial-scale composting facility with actively managed piles of compost under controlled conditions, and fed a diet of digestive microbes. If such conditions are met, polylactic acid (PLA) which is a material processed from the starch of plants such as corn, sugar cane and sugar beet used to manufacture compostable cups will break down in less than two months.

Another scenario would be if someone chooses to compost them in their backyard compost heap, in which case “it could easily take more than a year”.

However, the deal breaker is that if these kinds of cups are accidentally sent to a landfill and buried, it could take over a century for them to break down. Not at all what a conscientious consumer wants to know when they choose to use compostable cups. To further exacerbate the complications, if PLA cups go into a plastics recycling bin, they will contaminate the recycling process. Conversely, if plastic cups that should be recycled go into containers that are headed to the composting facilities, they contaminate that process too. The answer is more education so that well-meaning consumers can actually ‘do good’, as well as more facilities that break down compostable materials.

Where does US garbage go?

But back to recycling. The looming conclusion here is that in the most optimistic scenario, where everyone cleans their recyclable plastic containers, stores them away from water with the caps off, the percentage that is recycled is still very small. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 2018, municipal solid waste (MSW) plastics comprised 35.7 million tons in the United States, which represents 12.2 percent of municipal solid waste (MSW). The total amount of plastics combusted 2018 was 5.6 million tons, landfills received 27 million tons of plastic, and only a little over 3 million tons was actually recycled. A graph of Plastic waste management spanning decades starting from the 1960 to 2018 shows a grim picture. In the 1960’s 390,000 tons of plastic waste was landfilled - data regarding recycling or combustion amounts is not available. So, our plastic waste has grown to be over 90 times more since the 1960’s.

According to an extensive article published in The Guardian a team of reporters in 11 countries found that in 2018 the equivalent of 68,000 shipping containers of American plastic recycling were exported from the US to developing countries. These countries are not the kind that have stellar environmental records - places such as Bangladesh, Cambodia, Laos, Ghana, Ethiopia, Kenya and Senegal already face problems in dealing with their own waste due to poor regulations and mismanagement. Exports of plastic waste to Turkey also increased exponentially after 2017 when China restricted imports of plastic waste from the US. The move was followed by Vietnam, Malaysia and Thailand that also banned imports of plastic waste from the US.

The Guardian article also points out that even in the best-case scenario, the plastics recycling business is not that lucrative because virgin plastic that is higher quality, and therefore preferable by manufacturers, costs only marginally more per ton ($900 to $1,000) than recycled plastic ($800).

In a nut shell, there is no easy way to either recycle or get rid of plastic waste. Even if we ship it abroad, it ends up wreaking havoc with people’s health, the food chain, the environment, and ultimately, it just comes back through our food supply, if not other bad karma. What goes around, really does come around.

Is ‘reduce, reuse, recycle’ still the way to go?

So, what can we do to reduce the burden on our towns’ and cities’ public works departments and ultimately, our planet? The simple answer is: a lot more than we think.

Just as fast as one household’s garbage can increase due to buying certain products in stores and online, it can also decrease if we compost our vegetables scraps and don’t let our food contaminate the small amount of recyclable plastic that, we hope, gets recycled.

Here are some more things that can easily become good habits if we want to try:

• Use cups that are for multiple uses instead of single-use

• Wrap and store our foods in paper and glass, opting out of using cling wrap and plastic containers

• Wash recyclable plastic containers so that they can actually be recycled

• Opt out of plastic or paper shopping bags - use cloth and wash them now and then

There are also loose organizations such as Repair Cafe Hudson Valley that seeks to share traditional repair know-how and skills with people interested in keeping household items such as mechanical, electrical and other stuff in working condition for longer.

Clothing is a major contributor to landfill refuse. The rise of fast fashion is a Goliath of a subject to tackle and for that reason, best left for later. Suffice to say, fast fashion is something that needs to slow down. Siljkovic advises participating in take back programs for clothing and textiles, which helps reduce the volume in curbside refuse receptacles. Residents should familiarize themselves with drop-off locations for acceptable clothing and textiles that can be found at Re-Clothe NY.

When it comes to recycling though, both Siljkovic and the Director of Public Works at City of Port Jervis, Jack Farr, warn against getting overzealous with what is recyclable. Farr wrote to Better World, that the biggest issue is “the thought that everything is recyclable which it is not.”

Ultimately, hoping that something is recyclable, not checking whether it truly is, could actually contaminate the whole batch of items that are potentially recyclable, resulting in everything being dumped in landfill. The reason is that an item that is wrongly thought to be recyclable is dumped in the recycling bin, may not be able to be processed at the local MRF, it could potentially damage their equipment, or require extra staff to presort items in an effort to avoid such damage. And when recycling is no longer economically feasible, some local governments may choose to end their recycling programs. This is clearly not what anyone intends to happen when throwing out such items in the recycling bin, but due to a lack of information, it is the harsh reality of what actually happens. So due diligence is key.

Siljkovic concurs with Farr: “When in doubt throw it out … the phenomenon of “wishcycling” or using the recycling bin as a second trash bin is a great contributing factor to the recent recycling crisis”. The takeaway is to simply check that the number on the back of each container to see if it can be recycled, and make sure to clean it of any food residue before throwing it into the recycle bin.

What is even more preferable though, as a long-term solution to the tons of non-recyclable waste with which we’re suffocating our living environment, is changing our habits of using disposable products or materials. When we as consumers speak with our dollars, big business will start to listen. It’s just the nature of business.

The attitude of ‘out of sight, out of mind’ is not serving us well as a country, and as a planet. We are all individuals with our own will-power to affect change. We can start small - start with ourselves and don’t give up.

For a list of recyclable refuse. www.orangecountygov.com

Coffee: The Good, the Organic, and the Microlot

What are you really saying when you let your dollar do the talking?

It’s early morning. I’m checking my social media feeds, casting a furtive glance out the window, contemplating, prioritizing, compartmentalizing my daily responsibilities, just so that I can feel a little bit in control of the onslaught of events. All this, while I’m holding a cup of hot roasty, toasty goodness that invades my senses and hits the spot.

Why I’m drinking these particular coffee beans barely registers in my morning routine, but I’m nearing empty and will soon find myself reading packets on the supermarket shelf, or the online blurbs from a few recommended roasters. The one thing that I do notice as I reach for the beans each morning is that I feel better in myself when I’m reminded that I’ve made good choices.

Familiar labels help, like “Fair Trade” and “Rainforest Alliance”. They both evoke images of happy farmers and tropical paradises. “Certified organic” too, ‘cause I want to be sure I’m not drinking remnants of nasty chemicals. But, what about Bird Friendly, Carbon Neutral, and Direct Trade? Should I know what they are? And why is shade-grown coffee a thing now?

To answer all these questions in detail would mean writing a book or a dedicated website. But that’s been done. A little bit of research goes a long way. Just search “ethical coffee” and you’ll find a rabbit hole that will eventually point you to a decision, in terms of where to spend your hard-earned coin and what you’re supporting when you do.

What the Labels Mean

Each label does have its limitations worth also exploring, but here’s an overview to make quick sense of what’s what:

Fair Trade is primarily concerned with alleviating poverty through fair prices and is designed to minimize exploitation of coffee farming communities.

Rainforest Alliance (ie. the one with the green frog) is not an exclusively environmental certification, in addition to helping protect forests and maintain responsible land management, it also addresses community relations and fair treatment of workers.

Direct Trade is not an official certification, but rather serves to denote a direct relationship between the buyer and the producer, cutting out the traditional middleman traders, as well as the organizations that control certifications. To make up for the lack of official certifications, roasters will usually seek to be more transparent in the way they do business, so that consumers can be assured of their good business practices.

Shade-grown is a descriptor used by roasters, rather than a certification, and it does not address labor standards or fair prices. It refers to coffee trees that are grown the traditional way, under the forest canopy.

Another environmental choice: carbon-neutral coffee means ensuring a balance between emitting carbon and absorbing carbon from the atmosphere, so that there are net zero emissions. But since there are no internationally recognized standards for determining carbon neutrality, businesses must be transparent enough to back up claims of being carbon neutral with solid data.

However, none of the above imply organically farmed beans.

One label that does address organic growing practices, as well as caring for the growers, is Smithsonian Bird Friendly. As the name suggests, their focus is on preserving bird habitats, but one could argue that if in doubt, this would actually be the most sure-fire certification to go for as a consumer, because it covers all the bases. It is the only certification that is 100% organic and shade-grown guaranteed, while ensuring fair trade practices as well as premium prices paid to producer groups. The Bird Friendly certification is not as popular, or well known as “organic”, mainly due to the ambiguous name that gives consumers the impression that it’s just good for the birds, not the people as well.

To Be or Not to Be Organic

The organic certification is arguably one of the two most easily recognizable by consumers, but does not make for a clear-cut decision. For a coffee to be certified organic it means that it must be grown without the use of prohibited substances such as most synthetic pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers, on land that has not been tainted with these substances for at least three years. That’s all good. However, the burden of obtaining the certification is on the producer, and this is not always a financial possibility.

Evan Howe is Director of Coffee at Passenger Coffee, one of America’s conscious coffee suppliers. Howe recently spoke to BetterWorld about the intricacies of sourcing coffee.

According to Howe, “in many parts of the world, it is completely untenable to produce coffee in a fully organic way. And in many, many parts of the world, a small producer is choosing between organic certification, or having no crop”. It takes years to develop compliance with international standards and to enrich the soil through production methods that can sustain coffee crops without the use of agrochemicals. So clearly, coffee producers need to be supported on their way to achieving those standards.

The thing is, coffee that lacks the “USDA Organic” certification has not necessarily been grown with chemicals. A crop may well be organically grown, just without the official recognition, and so it cannot be sold as such, and producers cannot get the same kind of prices for their crop as they would if they had the label.

Howe would like to see certifications such as “USDA Organic” to be funded by the consumer world, so that the pressure is not on the producer, when they’re already losing money just trying to produce good coffee.

As far as our health and the environment are concerned, it seems the natural approach is to err on the side of organically grown products, whether it has the label or not. It’s just that transparency in the farming practices and supply chain is all the more critical without it.

Without being overly simplistic, at BetterWorld we prefer organic as the safest choice to ensure that we are not introducing toxins into our diets, but do recognize that sustainability may require a process. Producers who take credible steps in the right direction should be supported.

When it comes down to us consumers, the onus is on us to support sustainable farming practices with our dollars. And if not organic, we should at least choose coffee that was grown in a way that shows awareness and respect for the natural environment, community and education, or a move towards more sustainable practices.

The Microlot Mentality

Apart from organic, buyers really get excited about microlot coffee with special flavor profiles which can be marketed as such to consumers, and therefore fetch higher prices. Microlot is not a scientific term, rather, it is used to identify coffee that comes from trees that are usually found within larger estates, but due to special conditions, produce coffee that has special flavor characteristics. These beans are processed separately and differently from the rest of the crop, and in limited quantities.

But the problem lies in the fact that in most cases, these beans only represent a relatively small percentage of the coffee grown by a particular producer.

According to Howe, “it’s a tragic thing that a producer will often make an excellent profit on the minority of their harvest, and on the majority of their harvest they’ll lose money because those are the coffees … that specialty buyers are not drawn to.”

Passenger Coffee, which seeks to highlight the creme-de-la-creme of coffee beans, saw the need to establish Necessary Coffee in order to pay fairly and buy more of the crop that still scores high in terms of flavor profile, yet might fetch dramatically lower prices for lack of uniqueness, were it left to the bigger companies to scoop up.

Perhaps in the same way that the term microlot exists, there should also be coffee that is referred to as the ‘whole lot’ so as to underline the difference between the two ideas in a way that imposes a transparency of sorts on any coffee roaster.

Sustainability - What Does it Really Mean?

While not discounting the organic versus non-organic issue, at BetterWorld we decided that truly sustainable coffee should not only minimize harm to our health and the environment, but most importantly, must make a priority of being free of exploitation in all respects. That does mean treating the people right, but also that producers are not just having some of their crop cherry-picked and are able to sell all their harvest at a fair price. Companies that are transparent in their operations about their willingness to do this deserve support for obvious reasons.

Howe points out that what leads to truly sustainable coffee is longer term partnerships offering fixed prices to the growers, and showing up every year to buy their crop. This protects growers from yearly fluctuations of coffee prices, and allows buyers to negotiate certain standards that incorporate environmentally sustainable practices.

“It takes time to build something … viable and meaningful for all involved and so we need to clearly communicate what we need from a partnership like that … and we need to have as clear an understanding as possible regarding what a producer needs,” said Howe.

So, What’s the Takeaway?

What is the takeaway for us as consumers? How can we tell whether a producer whose exotic coffee beans we really enjoy, and for which we’re willing to pay a premium price, will earn a fair percentage to be able to feed his family and educate his kids? How can we tell that even though it lacks the “USDA Organic” label the producer is at least not using harmful agrochemicals and moving towards organic? In a nutshell, due diligence - we have to do a little bit of homework. Get to know your roaster. And when you can’t, lean on the certification labels that best fit your personal values.

Companies that take a holistic approach in how they do business are worth supporting because they are promoting a paradigm shift, which brings rewards to both consumers and producers alike. These are the suppliers we seek out.

So, while you might enjoy a special coffee with sweet tobacco and hazelnut notes, or one that just tastes like a good, reliable cup o’Joe, take some time to read about the company who made them available to you. Appreciate the grower who bears the brunt of coffee price fluctuations, in what equates to a mere few cents per pound for us consumers.

After all, coffee may only be one of life’s special indulgences to us, but it means everything to the life of a grower who might have a family to support, and whose neighbors are all involved in the processing of the beans. They’re all sipping their cups of cafe solo* wondering what kind of buyers will show up, whether their beans will be in vogue this season, and just how much of their crop they’ll get to sell at a good price. That should never be lost in translation.

What are your thoughts? Who are you drinking? Is there more to consider? Comment below.

*Cafe solo is what Spanish people call a shot of espresso.

Sources

https://www.rainforest-alliance.org/faqs/what-does-rainforest-alliance-certified-mean

https://nationalzoo.si.edu/migratory-birds/bird-friendly-coffee

https://www.fairtrade.net/issue

https://www.ams.usda.gov/sites/default/files/media/OrganicProductionandHandlingStandards.pdf

What is sustainable living? Our ethos

What does it mean to live in a healthy manner for all, without sacrificing modern comforts, dignity and aesthetics?

That’s the golden question. That’s what we plan to explore together with you. And as a place to start, this our sustainability ethos so far & how we apply it…

In short, It’s about how we choose to live together in this world and what we pass on to the future. A person should be able eat with us and be healthy, buy products from us they feel good about, support a more self-sufficient lifestyle with ease, and always be among friends.

1: Practical solutions, not more problems.

Keep it real. Keep it positive. Our focus is on results only for those who want them, with no added stress for anyone, just oodles of encouragement and optimism.

We’re not about converting everyone to complete homesteading. We prefer to simply find ways of enhancing existing lifestyles in ways that make sense. Our approach is to take gradual, practical steps toward greatness.

2: Do no harm…

…to yourself:

When it comes to food, everything we stock is made from natural ingredients that nourish, not kill you slowly. And for household products, it’s about avoiding anything that may compromise a healthy living environment. We have a vested interest in keeping our customers alive and well after all.

…to your fellow man:

This is more about how the product is made and who we are supporting, and is often a forgotten step in the sustainability equation. We figure it makes little sense to source a product from overseas if it is available locally, where we can meet the families behind each product and get to know their values. It makes a lot less sense to buy from countries where our products are taxed by terrorists, are known to support slave labor, and/or are blatantly destroying the earth. So we only buy from positive origins that support a sustainable humanity.

…to the world we live in:

Of course, what good is a sustainable humanity if we end up poisoning the world we live in? Our take on this is more about making individual efforts to improve rather than the politicized environmental rhetoric though (we’re no fans of increasing government control). We very much believe the earth is to be respected and kept clean. Period. That’s a no-brainer. For us, this impacts our packaging policies more than anything. We’re taking a bold stance: no landfill. We source compostable materials where we can and require our suppliers to package their goods in recyclable materials at the very least.

It’s not all about packaging though. Less reliance on disposable goods and a renaissance of lasting product quality is our aim. We also empower anyone and everyone to live more self-sufficiently. Living off the land and using more renewable resources just makes a whole lot of sense to us.

We believe it is possible for humanity to live in harmony with nature and we’ll do our part to make that happen.

3: Open, practical education.

If we’re to make lasting change, we need to share knowledge of what works. Peeling back beyond popular understandings to what actually makes a difference in practice is what’s key. We’re all coming at this from different perspectives and circumstances, so knowing if there are better choices that are within our reach - without slowing growth & progress - is how we can all move forward.

We aim to create a collective hub of learning for everyone. Because only when empowered with the right information is consumer-driven change made all the more possible. We’re not here to sell you products, we’re here to discover what’s possible when we all have access to the tools we need. A big part of this is our workshops and bookstore, where you’ll find a growing knowledge base of self-sufficient living, with a focus on titles that help us become better people & positive role models for future generations.

4: Community gratitude.

We are social creatures and we are strongest when connected, not living in isolation. And nothing brings us together like contributing to something bigger than ourselves… each other.

We believe the best foundation to build from starts with appreciating what we’ve got. We find when we come from that perspective we’re more likely to pitch in and give back when our community needs us. So expect a welcoming social space from us, with loads of community get-togethers, and a strong emphasis on supporting local industry & initiatives, as a celebration of what our community has to offer.

We’re all about helping each other grow in an environment of inexhaustible compassion, honesty & support.

So that’s our take on it, but what does sustainability mean to you?

Support a free world with true sustainability

A big part of buying sustainably means paying attention to product origins and global supply chains. We’ve done the necessary groundwork with our entire range for your peace of mind and conscience.

We are pro-humanity.

Every product in our store has been sourced responsibly. We buy local when we can, and only from free countries when we can’t, but never from dictatorships.

As proud patriots and humanitarians, we stock our shelves according to our values. Products made in countries without true freedom are not sustainable sources, no matter how they say they are produced. Ensuring ethically sourced materials just isn’t possible under corrupt regimes.

So support local industry with us. Select from our full range of patriot products for all things made in America, but still shop with confidence with anything in store from beyond our shores too.