[Excuse the Tired Pun, But…] Finding Common Grounds

As I’ve mentioned previously, we often get off into the weeds of discourse when discussing our “climate conundrum”. Instead of discussing facts and figures, we often divert into discussions about political ideologies.

However, there are many issues in which - if given the ability to remove our own ideological filters and propensity for debate – we would see eye to eye with each other.

For example, I remember quite clearly a time in which a co-worker and I, despite our differing political leanings, were the only employees at a business to turn the light off when we left a room.

He did so to save the company money. I did so to leave coal in the ground.

Now, had we gotten into a debate about the merits of climate change or the need to lessen the company’s ecological burden, we undoubtedly would have disagreed (who am I kidding, we most certainly had these conversations and most certainly disagreed). However, in this case, rather than discussing our motivation behind our actions, we realized that we both wanted the same thing - to turn off the light when it was not in use – and worked together to do so.

I believe that there are many instances where our necessity to “be right” outweighs our need to (by our personal metrics) “do right”; and often these impulses are satiated at our own peril.

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So where are other opportunities to “do right” by our own imperatives?

Well, in speaking exclusively about the end-user preparation of coffee (and putting aside for now the footprint disparities in different methodologies of cultivation), the largest opportunity to save ourselves money and/or to keep coal in the ground is in the heating of brew water. This remains true regardless of brewing method and thus gives us all equal opportunity to make simple changes.

The most simple of which being to only make (heat) what you intend to drink.

This may seem simplistic, however, it is a remarkably effective tool to conserve (again, money and energy).

Let’s assume that I brew one morning and one early afternoon pour over for myself every day, filling up my .65L (22oz) electric kettle each time to do so.

Heating the water (in my Hario electric gooseneck) from 63°F (17.2°C) to boiling takes about 67.8 watt hours (880watts for 4.6minutes [.077 hours] =  67.76wh).

If I’m making myself a 650mL (22oz) pour-over (or slightly less if one includes a preclusion of the pre-wetting of filters), then all 67.8wh are going into my cup.

If, however, I am only brewing a 325mL (11oz) pour-over but still filling my kettle to the fill-line for simplicity sake (and to not experience the dreaded “run dry” moment), there is now a considerable amount of daily waste energy. Heating 325mL in the same Hario kettle requires only 37.1wh to boil, meaning that in this scenario there is a daily waste product of 61.32(30.66x2)wh.

This equates to a yearly excess of 22.38kwh, or a little over 25lbs of coal (should the grid be 100% coal fired. To see your own impact in this scenario, check the make-up of your power-suppliers portfolio and multiply 25.29xcoal percentage [in decimal form]) as waste.   

Furthermore, depending on where you are in the world, this can cost you an extra of almost $10 per year.

To some, I realize that these totals can seem trivial.

However, it is an expenditure with no benefit- no use – other than useless extravagance. One in which a simple solution (like pouring your water into a measuring cup [or, if you’re fancy, a scale] to accurately gauge the amount of water you will need to brew your coffee [a task that can be done the previous evening if you’re not a morning person]) is all that is needed to avoid it.

It’s the equivalent of lighting a $10 bill and 25lbs of coal on fire just to watch it burn (there’s definitely a sidetrack here, specifically the science/parlor trick of lighting a dollar bill on fire but also not actually burning it).

In short, let’s not get into pointless, meandering debates on the merits of climate change or even the broader topic of “environmentalism” when discussing these matters on a peer-to-peer level; as the only outcome from these clashes tends to be animosity and obstinate behaviors.  Rather, let us work together to make small, mutually beneficial changes to our day to day lives.

The impetus for our actions - monetary or conservational - matters not. For in the end, everybody (human or otherwise) wins when we conserve.