Have you ever thought about how your morning coffee is adding to your carbon footprint?
From the manufacturing of the milk to the carbon dioxide released from the coffee machine, one Brisbane coffee roaster is producing environmentally sustainable coffee.
Damien Quick, the owner of Mt Glorious Coffee Co., is reinventing how coffee is produced.
A coffee roaster for three years, Mr Quick initially wanted to quit the business due to the financial and environmental struggles.
"I wanted to quit early," he said.
"Maintaining the machine and running it was costing far more than the machine cost initially."
The diesel-powered machines used by Mr Quick were not pulling in profit for his business.
Just as he was about to lose the beans, Mr Quick found an alternative.
"I wanted to make high-quality coffee but I could only find highly powered machines to make it."
"Then I came across these LPG (liquid petroleum gas) machines."
No longer using diesel to roast coffee beans, Mr Quick's coffee machine is reducing his carbon footprint.
On average, a standard café-made latte emits 340g CO2e (carbon dioxide equivalent). Drinking one of these every day for a whole year has the carbon footprint equivalent of a flight from Brisbane to Melbourne.
"The heating of these machines is produced by the LPG," he said.
"The rest of the machine is run by batteries powered by solar panels."
The machine, built in part using iron and steel from Mr Quick's former job as a signage builder, generates and relies on power it produces.
Mr Quick's mobile coffee business will be at Brisbane City Council's Green Heart Festival, demonstrating how all coffee lovers can "green-up" their caffeine hit.
"I will be showing off the machine at the festival and will be serving coffee and selling my roasted beans," he said.
"The packaging for my beans is also bio-degradable. Everything I do is for a sustainable environment."
