Pura Vida -- Coffee for Good

Although I've been without television for close to seven years now, I don't miss out, because friends look out for me and let me know whenever something really important is on. Two different friends let me know about this story, which aired on PBS a couple of days ago.

It concerns Pura Vida, a coffee company that was started by a former Microsoft executive and that directs all of its profits toward development projects in coffee-producing communities.

This video report describes some of the projects the company has sponsored, and explains that the coffee is sold on several hundred college campuses. Once I saw the story, I remembered buying some of this coffee at Emerson College just before heading over to the David Byrne concert last Halloween. As we move toward fair-trade on our own campus, this is one company to keep in mind!

Post-Bush Environmental Protection

Environmental policies are set by laws and interpreted by the courts, but the Executive Branch has a lot of influence over what actually happens. This five-minute report on NPR's All Things Considered provides a good overview of some of the environmental policies most likely to change as the Obama Administration reviews Bush-era decisions.

Even if no new laws are enacted, differences could be seen with respect to climate change, air and water pollution, endangered species and pesticides.

John Muir's Botanical Travels

Some of Muir's collection.
Photo: Stephen J. Joseph

I have known John Muir (1838-1914) as the founder of the Sierra Club and a leading preservationist of the Teddy Roosevelt era. For the first directorate of the Forest Service, Roosevelt pass Muir over in favor of his friend and rival Gifford Pinchot -- a conservationist rather than a strict preservationist.Muir had a strong spiritual side and is known for his very long walks in the wilderness with little more than a stick and a cup. From this On Point radio production, I learned that he was also an accomplished botanist and something of a biogeographer. This fascinating hour-long program touches on biography, botany, biodiversity, and climate change.

Wherever Muir traveled, he gathered plant specimens, often sending them to friends like post cards. The featured guest on this program is Bonnie Gisel, who searched out these artifacts for a new book. My only qualm about this otherwise fascinating program is Gisel's response to a caller who asked about Muir's role in driving indigenous people out of the Yosemite Valley. As with many biographers of great figures, she became more of an apologist than a scholar on this question, essentially explaining that Muir was less racist than his contemporaries.

Lagniappe
See more about how Muir viewed indigenous Americans -- and how many of them view him today -- in my 2016 post Muir to the Story.

EarthView

In the summer of 2008, the BSC geography department acquired EarthView, a 20-foot-tall portable classroom in the form of a globe. Since then, I have been traveling with the EarthView team to deliver geographic education to thousands of elementary and middle-school students. In the process, we have been promoting the critical need for more comprehensive geographic education in the United States, particularly in Massachusetts.

We have established a dedicated blog to promote the program, post media coverage of the active student learning that surrounds EarthView, and field student questions. The experience of being with a giant globe typically generates many more questions than we can answer during each visit, so we are now inviting students to continue the dialog with us.

Coffee Kids

I do a lot of teaching about coffee and the difficulties faced by coffee-growing communities. I try to help by raising awareness and by buying coffee from companies that treat the farmers and their families and the land well. I think this is all good, but a few cents a cup is not enough.

What if I want to make a bigger difference -- do I just have to buy a lot of Fair Trade coffee? That is an attractive option, but to help more directly, I support Coffee Kids with whatever donation I can send. I do this because I have heard directly from communities that Coffee Kids makes a difference.

The organization -- supported by many industry members -- educates coffee consumers and it supports the education of kids growing up in coffee-farming communities. A good education is the only way, really, to ensure a better future for children who grow up in coffee, subject to the whims of ever-shifting markets.

When I give public lectures about coffee, I aske the organizers to send donations to Coffee Kids, in lieu of speaker fees. If you are involved in coffee, I hope you will find a way to support them, too!

Coffee and Conservation

The posts on this page cover several important matters related to coffee and the environment, beginning with a vexing question that has bothered me as I visit small farmers who are trying to play by the rules of certification. That is, can something be done to move the burden of certification away from the very small farmers who are trying to do the right thing, but are confronted with undue costs when they try to prove it.

LOL god: Persecution complex

LOL god: Persecution complex

This has nothing to do with environmental geography, but I like it. In the past few weeks, some religious folks who enjoy persecuting others (i.e., gays and lesbians who are causing them no harm) are trying to portray themselves as the victims of anti-religious discrimination. This series of images clarifies the nonsense.

Corporate Knights

This is a rich site with a lot of news about the business of sustainability.

The Water Footprint of Coffee

Water Footprint is a Dutch site that allows consumers to estimate the water consumption that is embedded in other kinds of consumption. As a student of coffee, I was particularly interested in the 1100:1 ratio between coffee and the water needed to prepare it. Although coffee requires almost 1.3 meter of rainfall per year, this accounts for only about 1/7 of the total, as water is needed at many stages.

The water used in the coffee is renewable -- it does not disappear or anything. But a lot of it is used in locations thousands of miles from the consumer and with minimal environmental regulations. Because the water used for growing will return to local streams and water supplies, organic coffee can help to keep those resources free of pesticides and fertilizers.

Similarly, the water used for depulping is usually returned to local streams, full of nutrients that can lead to algae blooms and diminished available oxygen for fish. For this reason, it is important to support integrated production systems that harvest biogas or otherwise capture the nutrients before returning water to the local environment.

This page is an overview of the group's findings regarding coffee and tea. It includes links to more detailed studies (in Dutch and English) of each.

Living the Map

Daniel Sediqqui was having trouble finding a job after college, and then he stumbled upon a brilliant, geographic idea. He is taking temporary jobs of one week in each of the fifty states. In the process, he is learning new skills, learning cultural geography, and spending a year exploring the U.S.

I really like the fact that in each state, he is seeking jobs that typify the region.

His project is similar to two of my own web pages, though they pale in comparison: my county map project and my fun jobs list! The end result of Sediqqui's work might have a place on my wife Pamela's Year of blog.