With air pollution responsible for as many as 36,000 deaths in the UK every year, it is the largest environmental health risk currently facing our country.
National Clean Air Day was created by environmental charity Global Action Plan to raise awareness of the issue among the general public. By encouraging everyone from local authorities and schools to businesses and community groups to organise their own events, Global Action Plan hopes to get the country talking about the seriousness of air pollution and the ways in which we can combat it.
At Cafe2U, we're proud to do our bit for the benefit of the environment. In fact, our aim is to become the UK's first carbon neutral coffee company. So what exactly are our green credentials? Read on to find out!
We're a digital franchise
One thing you won't find much of around Cafe2U HQ and our franchisees' vans is paper. Operations at our head office are completely digitised and we no longer offer traditional loyalty cards or physical pamphlets - we have our own app which allows our customers to receive news, offers and updates digitally instead. By using less paper, we're keeping more trees in the ground where they can help remove harmful pollutants from the atmosphere.
Our vans are electric
Yep, all electric and 100% emission-free, with lithium-ion batteries instead of diesel generators. Furthermore, our electric vans have minimal moving parts and more effective brakes, so fewer replacement parts need manufacturing, reducing our overall greenhouse gas emissions even further.
When we switched from petrol powered to electric vans, we significantly reduced our CO² emissions overnight, and we're determined to keep looking for more opportunities to reduce our company's emissions even more over the coming years.
We're big on recycling
All our franchisees offer their customers the opportunity to recycle their paper cups to slow the rate at which new disposable cups are produced.
They also provide a coffee grounds recycling service, which helps counteract the 1.8 million tonnes of carbon emissions which are generated by the 500,000 tonnes of coffee waste that is disposed of in the UK annually. The initiative sees waste coffee grounds being recycled into biofuel pellets to power biomass boilers, significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions and helping keep the air cleaner.
Oh, and all our food products come in 100% recyclable packaging too!
Tackle air pollution with Cafe2U
While it's great to see more and more people becoming aware of the issue of air pollution and trying to do something about it, a huge amount of work still needs to be done if the UK is going to eradicate the problem permanently.
If you're interested in investing in a clean, 100% emission-free franchise like Cafe2U, click here to find out more.