Highlighting Boarding Pass Coffee’s commitment to sustainability with partnerships with local farms to collect used coffee grounds for composting.
Most people that visit Boarding Pass Coffee immediately notice the travel décor like
airplane seats and vintage suitcases. What they don’t see are the bins we keep in the
back, outside of guest view, of used coffee waste that is collected for area farmers and
gardeners.
Every day, the baristas at our Gainesville and Milton locations do not simply throw away
used coffee grounds, espresso pucks, and even chafe (from the roasting process) that
is headed to landfills. Instead, we collect our coffee waste in large bins that gets picked
up by local farms to use in their compost that improves soil health and support
sustainable agriculture.
Truth be told, coffee shops produce a large amount of organic waste. When food
scraps, coffee grounds, and other organic waste are buried in landfills, they decompose
without oxygen (anaerobic decomposition), producing methane gas. Methane is a major
concern in landfills because it is a very powerful greenhouse gas and traps heat in the
atmosphere, much more so than carbon dioxide.
Not only does composting divert the waste from landfills and reduce creation of
greenhouse gases, but it also helps the nutrients in the soil.
And coffee grounds are great for composting. Composting keeps nutrients cycling
through ecosystem. Because they are rich in nitrogen, when coffee grounds are
composted instead of buried, they decompose with oxygen (aerobic decomposition) that
feeds soil microbes. This improves soil aeration, helps retain moisture, and improves
the overall health of the soil by supporting beneficial microbes.
Learn more about our composting partners:
-
Goss Family Farms, a fourth-generation 46 acre market farm in Oakwood, GA
with a focus on growing produce as organically as possible. They are a bee-
friendly farm that is pesticide-free, and also strives to stay away from synthetic
fertilizer. As they continue to grow, a big goal is to reduce their carbon footprint
and increase composting options. One big goal for 2026 is to produce enough
compost on their farm to sustain their needs, as well as grow to a point where they can also offer compost on a small scale to other small market farmers in the
community. Georgia Grown certified. Learn more at
www.facebook.com/gossfamilyfarms. -
Joe Lamp’l “Joe Gardener.” Joe Lamp'l is a well-known advocate for organic
gardening and sustainable living. As the host of the PBS series Growing a
Greener World, he has spent years educating gardeners on how to grow food
and care for landscapes using environmentally responsible practices. Through
his books, podcast, and online courses, Lamp'l promotes techniques such as
composting, soil health management, and natural pest control. His work
encourages gardeners to build healthier ecosystems in their own backyards while
reducing reliance on synthetic chemicals. Learn more at www.joegardener.com.