A coffee company curbs its trash

Monday, April 02, 2007
By Thom Smith

Roastmaster Paul Dodds scoops the hulls of coffee beans into a bin from where they will proceed to the compost pile.

Paul Dodds is a friend I met when we were both employed at the Berkshire Museum, and one whose involvement with me now generally includes kayaks or good hiking shoes.

His appreciation of the out-of-doors has led him to become interested in lessening any negative impact his new occupation as roastmaster at Barrington Coffee Roasting Co. may have on the environment.

"I guess you could say that my boss, Barth Anderson, and I have been negotiating the implementation of a program with the Center for Ecological Technology to reduce trash," he says. "We are starting to compost, we already recycle, and we are starting programs with local farms. We already give farmers and other others, the burlap bags (our coffee beans are shipped in).

"Also, with CET, we are trying to send off our plastic bag waste to a facility that might use them for fuel. We haven't crossed the bridge yet, but we are on our way to not needing a dumpster, or at least, a small dumpster."

Founded by Anderson and Gregg Charbonneau in 1993, the coffee roasters is a small, hands-on company dedicated to great coffee that may now include a greener environment in its mission. It is located at 165 Quarry Hill Road in Lee.

CET is probably best known for promoting paper recycling and energy saving, but is much more, helping private business and farms contribute to their communities by becoming more environmentally and economically sustainable.

CET offers many programs, tailored to the needs of small and medium-sized businesses and farms in Western Massachusetts.

For more information, check www.cetonline.org; visit their Pittsfield office 112 Elm St., or phone (413) 445-4556.

Send queries and comments to Thom Smith, Berkshire Museum natural science curator, emeritus to Post Office Box 582, Dalton, MA 01227.