The Biodegradable-ness of Our Coffee Bags

Like we’ve said many times before, one of the best parts about this wonderful state we call home is the access to wild and wet places.  No matter where you are in Florida, you are always a maximum of 60 miles from the coast.

That’s pretty rad.

In the middle of that coastal sandwich is some of the most beautiful and wild places in North America. We’ve got lakes, rivers, streams, swamps along with all of the wildlife that inhabits them.

Start north in the Apalachicola and Osceola National Forests and head south through Ocala, Lake Okeechobee and into the Florida Everglades and you’re as wild as it gets. You’ll run into a ton of critters along the way and will damn near require an oxygen mask.

The scenery can take your breath away.

Florida’s inner beauty is rivalled only by the allure of its 1,350 miles worth of coastline. And while we tend to favor our beloved state, the truth is, North America is filled with notable wild, scenic and sacred places.

But like that hand-me-down shotgun from grandad, these places require a little TLC to keep them in good working order. With that said, we aren’t here to preach about how we need to dramatically alter the way we live our day-to-day lives in order to do that.

Instead, we believe in simple, daily common-sense steps to keep things clean.

If we see trash in the street, water or beach, we pick it up.

We try our darndest to reduce waste the best we can.

We realize we are not perfect.

We also try to use materials inside our business that reduce the impact on the environment. When we started this company, the bag selection process was a difficult one. We evaluated a number of options and in some cases had champagne taste on a beer budget (welcome to bootstrapping).

We loved the minimalistic look that a brown bag gave the brand along with the ability to fully customize our tags and give them a more dressed up look and feel. During the brown bag selection process, we stumbled across the Biotrē brand of bags and supplies.

Dating back to 2011, these bags were designed by our supplier TricorBraun Flex as the company began heading down a path of true sustainability. In search of a product that could penetrate the wholesale market with an environmentally friendly and compostable packaging option, the organization continues to inch towards a truly biodegradable packaging solution.

The Break Down

The traditional coffee bag is made up of three main ingredients (essentially).  The bag, the inner liner and the degassing valve, which keeps the coffee fresh.

The challenge began in creating an inner liner that would protect the product inside along with the environment. Moving to a plant-based product, they created a liner that would protect the coffee and would still remain heat sealable. They followed on that tech and set to work on the degassing valve.

While the original Biotrē 1.0 did not have the plant-based valve, the current model is proven to be upwards of 60% compostable, which is an easy win to get behind. The company is currently in phase three of their project looking to make the entire bag curbside compostable but is still working on the pesky degassing valve.

There’s no doubt they’ll get it right in the near future.

While our partners at TricorBraun continue to hone their processes, we realize that nobody is or can ever be truly perfect.

The Little Things

With every paddle stroke, line cast or wave caught, we are reminded how precious these environments are. In an effort to sustain them for the next generations, we’ll keep on doing our part, however seemingly miniscule it might be in the bigger picture. We figure that if a few people follow that lead, we’ll have blue water, clean air and green forests for a long time comin’.

And that right there is worth a few more bucks in cost of goods sold if you ask us.