OUR MISSION
West Berkshire Roastery is on a mission to make our planet a greener, healthier and happier place to live. We do this by offering affordable coffee to everyone and providing the best service we can - all while giving back to the planet.
For every order we plant a tree somewhere in the world. We are very conscious of the impact we have. We don’t want to just be a trendy brand; we want to represent a community of people who use their voices to do the right thing for the Earth.
We could write pages and pages about zero hour contracts, company politics and companies making millions of pounds while harming the planet. But, this won’t change anything. This outdated model of business is no longer sustainable in the twenty-first century and what truly matters are actions.
HOW PLANTING TREES CAN SAVE THE WORLD
We do not measure our success by looking at our balance sheet. We measure our success by looking at how many trees we have planted in shrinking forests around the world. Our commitment to planting trees isn’t just a gimmick; we really believe that it has the power to change the world.
Planting trees has a huge number of benefits, including:
- Restoring animals’ habitats, which, in turn helps increase biodiversity by giving endemic species the chance to thrive
- Removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere by putting it back into the plants and soil, and therefore helping to reduce global warming
- Cleaning the air by removing pollutant gases such as nitrogen oxides, ammonia, sulphur dioxide and ozone by trapping these gases in their leaves and bark
- Restoring local ecosystems that have been destroyed by deforestation or other external factors
- Reducing the impact of flooding and soil erosion, which helps to protect nearby communities and their livelihoods
- Providing an income for tree planters in lower income countries.
So far we have planted:
CURRENT PROJECT
For every order we plant a tree, these are planted by Ecologi in association with The Eden Reforestation Projects in Madagascar (temporarily paused).
Madagascar is known for its incredible biodiversity, with over 200,000 endemic species of plants and animals living on the island. However, over 90% of the country’s virgin forests have been destroyed, with animal species being displaced and the local people no longer able to farm and live off the land. Estuaries once populated by mangrove trees are now bare of life, leaving the earth to be washed away into the ocean.
By purchasing coffee through the West Berkshire Roastery, you help to fund the non-profit, Eden Reforestation Projects, and their reforestation of the island. Leaders in responsible reforestation, Eden have, to date, planted 265 million trees, while creating an incredible 2.6 million work days for local communities.
OUR SUSTAINABILITY COMMITMENTS
We are ambitious in our goals:
- By the end of 2024, we will be carbon neutral and, by the end of 2025, carbon negative - which means we will be removing more carbon from the environment than we emit.
- By the end of 2024, we will also be fully zero waste as a company. (Carbon Footprint assessed August 2023).
- Our packaging is currently fully recyclable. We understand recycling still uses energy that sometimes isn't from renewable sources and we are working hard to find a solution, such as biodegradable or compostable options. We are in the process of changing our stickers to vegan stickers to help us meet this goal.
- We use delivery companies and suppliers that also align with our values and put their corporate social responsibility as a number one priority.
OUR NEXT STEPS & IMPROVEMENTS:
We're not perfect...yet.
- Packaging. We are working on a compostable packaging solution instead of using recyclable packaging. New packaging is on the horizon (achieved August 2023)
- Fuel for coffee roasting. Our roaster is currently powered by gas. We aren't happy with this and researching the current possibilities, opportunities and limitations. Electric roasting is a possibility, however there are restrictions on batch size and producing the necessary flavours. Watch this space.
