The Orion Online

Issue date: 2/6/08 Section: News

Media Credit: David Flannery Katie Dowling, a lead student at the Creekside Cafe, laughs with co-workers as she prepares a drink Friday. Tully's, the shop's main coffee supplier, has decided to change its current coffee beans to organic ones to reduce its environmental impact. [Click to enlarge]

Grabbing an espresso at Creekside Cafe or Common Grounds coffee shop will soon be more than just a treat, it will help the environment.

Tully's Coffee is implementing fair-trade, certified organic espresso beans at Creekside Cafe and Common Grounds coffee shop in hopes of reducing environmental impact, said Corinne Hileman, A.S. dining services retail operations manager.

"(The company's) commitment to being responsible to the environment will help to bring greater economic stability to the world's coffee-growing regions," Hileman said.

Some students, including senior Morgan Pugh, support Tully's decision to become more sustainable.

"I don't know a lot about fair-trade organic coffee, but if it's better for our environment to drink it then I'm glad they're doing it," she said.

Three to four different regular drip coffees and one fair-trade organic drip coffee blend will be available every day once the program is implemented later this semester along with the fair-trade organic espresso beans that will be used to make espresso drinks such as mochas, cappuccinos and lattes, Hileman said.

"Tully's is making changes as a corporation to reduce their environmental impact and the Associated Students are happy with what's being done," Hileman said.

The company is also swapping its current cups for Ecotainer coffee cups, which are 100 percent biodegradable and can be composted, Hileman said.

"Once we have used up the stock of old cups, we will be switching to Tully's Ecotainer coffee cups, which will be used at all retail dining services throughout campus," Hileman said.

Switching to the Ecotainer cups will help reduce the 16 billion disposable cups thrown into landfills every year, according to Tully's Web site.

Its current cups have petroleum-based linings, which prevent them from breaking down. New cups will have a corn-based lining which is a renewable resource, Hileman said.

A.S. Food Service is also working on getting compost trashcans for the coffee shops on campus.

Sophomore Stefanie Prado likes the idea of Tully's changing its coffee, but has one worry: cost.

"I just hope it won't affect the price of coffee at all," she said.

Coffee prices increased at Creekside and Common Grounds about 5 percent from last semester, but the change to fair-trade organic espresso beans had nothing to do with it.

Transportation fees, the price of milk and other ingredients going up and minimum wage being raised from $7.50 to $8 caused the increase, Hileman said.

A.S. Food Service compares prices with other coffee shops such as Starbucks, Peet's Coffee & Tea and The Naked Lounge, Hileman said.

"We strive to be in the middle of all coffee shop prices around the downtown Chico area, and we are," Hileman said.

Although the coffee shops are still transitioning, coffee sales aren't expected to suffer, and Tully's expects a good response, Hileman said.

Jozlynn Rush can be reached at
jrush@theorion.com

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