Reducing our impact on the place we love
Did you know that the Bruce Peninsula is in a designated UNESCO World Biosphere?
We’ve always strived to serve you the best coffee in the most eco-friendly way possible. That’s why we’ve taken steps to reduce our environmental impact.
Sauble Beach is located in the UNESCO Niagara Escarpment Biosphere Reserve, which stretches 725KM from Lake Ontario to the tip of the Bruce Peninsula. The region collectively boasts the highest level of species diversity among Canadian biosphere reserves, including more than 300 bird species, 55 mammals, 36 reptiles and amphibians, 90 fish and 100 varieties of special interest flora.
We take our responsibility to help protect our environment seriously, and we are always looking for ways to make our operations cleaner, greener, and healthier.
By identifying ways to reduce consumption and waste in our own operations, and partnering with vendors who share our values, we’re doing our part to help protect and preserve our beloved Sauble Beach for future generations.
What’s up with the cup?
Truly Compostable:
Our SOFI cups are backyard compostable! This means you can compost them at home without needing special industrial processes or commercial facilities. Just toss them in your backyard compost, and they’ll break down naturally within 180 days.
Furthermore, any cups that end up in local waterways such as Lake Huron or Sauble River will completely biodegrade in just a few months—rather than hundreds of years.
Finally, we are diverting the cups we collect away from the Sauble Beach landfill to support the award-winning “Bee the Change” pollinator habitat restoration project or to our friends at Earthbound Nursery for composting.
Healthier for the Planet:
Traditional coffee cups are hard to recycle because they combine paper and plastic. Most recycling facilities can't separate the plastic liner from the paper, so these cups often end up in landfills where the plastic components can persist for hundreds of years.
Unfortunately, many coffee cups labeled “biodegradable” or “compostable” are equally problematic. They often use bioplastic liners and lids that need specialized facilities and high-temperature industrial composting processes to break down. Very few communities (including Sauble Beach) possess the infrastructure to handle bioplastic waste properly.
Bioplastics that aren't disposed of correctly can contaminate traditional plastic recycling, causing entire batches to be rejected and sent to landfills. In landfills, bioplastics can release methane (a potent greenhouse gas) and the aforementioned microplastic particles that harm local waterways and ecosystems.3
By eliminating plastic and bioplastic liners and lids, our SOFI cups avoid these problems, offering a truly eco-friendly and health-conscious choice.
Healthier for You:
Our cups are free from plastics and bioplastics (“biodegradable”plastics). Traditional and biodegradable takeout coffee cups often have liners that release microplastic particles into your hot drinks. In fact, recent research published in the Journal of Hazardous Materials found that traditional coffee cups release approximately 25,000 microplastic particles after just 15 minutes of exposure to warm liquid.1 Unfortunately, biodegradable cups with bioplastic liners can release three times this amount. 2
By avoiding plastic and bioplastic components, our SOFI cups reduce the risk of harmful chemicals and microplastics getting into your drinks, ensuring a healthier coffee experience for you!
Same Great Experience:
You’ll still get the same delicious coffee and cold drinks you love, but now in a more sustainable, leak resistant, and drip-free package. Enjoy your favourite drinks knowing you’re doing something good for the environment.
What about the beans?
Amicis Coffee Bar has proudly brewed Rufino Coffee since the very beginning in 2003. A family-owned independent roastery in Vaughn, Ontario, Rufino Coffee makes a conscious effort to ensure their practices are ethically and environmentally sound. They purchase only the finest coffees available and pay beyond market value, ensuring the growers are rewarded for their skill and dedication to producing exceptional coffees.
Rufino Coffee’s facility is powered by 100% renewable energy, through Bullfrog Power’s natural means of wind and hydro electricity generation. While carbon emissions have always been an unfortunate yet unavoidable byproduct of the roasting process, their unique system allows them to reduce these emissions and fuel consumption by as much as 77% versus conventional systems.
