By the time the hot coffee flows into our coffee cup, it has come a long way. The main coffee growing regions are Ethiopia, Colombia and Mexico. How can coffee consumption not be an environmental sin? Eco-checker Tobi finds out. 0:00 Visiting a coffee roastery 4:26 Coffee put to the test 8:48 Fair coffee: Interview with Sara Nuru 10:43 Sustainability and fair trade: What is the situation at the big coffee roasters? 13:10 How ecological is coffee production? 16:35 Conclusion THIS IS HOW COFFEE IS ROASTED We Germans love coffee: we drink an average of 165 liters of coffee a year. That's 3 to 4 cups a day, depending on the size of the cup. Eco-checker Tobias takes a look at how coffee is roasted with barista and coffeeologist Stefan Dachale in Berlin. Stefan gets his coffee beans directly from small farmers' cooperatives in Ethiopia, Colombia and Mexico. The beans are roasted for 9 to 14 minutes (depending on the bean) at up to 210 degrees. This is what allows the aromatic coffee flavor to develop. WHICH PREPARATION METHOD IS THE MOST SUSTAINABLE? Eco-checker Tobias Koch pits two preparation methods against each other: Arabica beans are always used for brewing. BATTLE 1: FILTER MACHINE VS HAND FILTER After 4 minutes, the coffee from the filter machine is ready, while it takes a little longer by hand. The energy consumption is similar for both methods because only the water needs to be heated in each case; the hand filter performs slightly better. BATTLE 2: PRESS POT VS PAD MACHINE In the duel between the press pot (also called a French press) and the pad machine, the pad machine is faster. The coffee is ready in under 2 minutes, while the coffee in the press pot has to brew for 4 minutes. The advantage of the press pot: you don't need a coffee filter and the energy consumption is lower. BATTLE 3: PORTAFILTER VERSUS FULLY AUTOMATIC The losers in terms of energy are portafilter machines and fully automatic machines. The important thing: When buying the machines, make sure they have a switch-off function, because constant standby mode consumes a lot of energy. In terms of taste, Tobi is completely blown away by the portafilter machine! - Conclusion: In the overall balance, French presses and hand filters perform best. RAW MATERIAL COFFEE: WHERE IS THE PROBLEM? Around 10 million tons of coffee are produced every year. This happens along the equator in the so-called "coffee belt". One major environmental problem is the high use of nitrogen fertilizers! The resulting nitrous oxide is significantly more harmful to the climate than CO2. There is also a social problem, because many farmers are not paid enough. HOW DOES FAIR COFFEE WORK? Tobi asked Sara Nuro this question. The former winner of Germany's Next Top Model (GNTM) is now committed to fair and sustainable coffee. She was even appointed ambassador for fair trade by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. Sarah Nuro's main complaint is that what we pay for coffee does not even come close to reaching the coffee farmer. Seals that guarantee organic and fair trade are ideal. Her tip: buy coffee from smaller roasters and initiatives that can provide a lot of information about the origin of the products. HOW MUCH CO2 DOES A CUP OF COFFEE PRODUCE? The Ökochecker talks about this with Dr. Athena Birkenberg, who researches at the Institute for Tropical Agricultural Sciences at the University of Hohenheim. She explains to him that a small cup of coffee causes around 45 grams of CO2. Around half of this is due to preparing the coffee. Transport - and this is surprising - only makes up 5 percent of the footprint. In addition, coffee also causes deforestation. It is estimated that at least 100,000 hectares of rainforest are destroyed each year. If you want to buy sustainable coffee, you should look for organic seals, Rainforest Alliance and Fair Trade. There are also seals that combine organic and fair trade, such as Naturland fair and Hand in Hand. Sources: ►Coffee “Market Report” (2020), online at: https://bit.ly/3uRZ57L ►Forum fairer Handel “Figures and facts on fair trade in Germany” (2019), online at: https://bit.ly/3dYzxyW Author: Hanna Meßmann Editing: Sven Lude Editor (solisTV): Sarah Weihsweiler Editor (SWR): Inga Vennemann, Holger Conzelmann Image source: SWR ► Subscribe to Ökochecker on the Marktcheck channel https://bit.ly/Marktcheck ► Instagram @oekochecker: / oekochecker Ökochecker are produced by SWR ►https://www.swr.de/impressum ► Comments are welcome - but please observe our netiquette: http://www.swr.de/netiquette #Oekochecker #Kaffee #Nachhaltigkeit