Launched in 2017, Clean Air Day is an annual event designed to focus public and political attention on the UK's air pollution problem. Most of us don't realise the severity of the issue but air pollution is the biggest environmental threat to health the country faces, with between 28,000 and 36,000 deaths attributable to long-term exposure every year.
Fortunately, the good people at environmental charity Global Action Plan are here to raise awareness of the issue among the general public by encouraging everyone from NHS trusts, schools and local authorities to businesses, government departments and community groups to organise their own events and help get the country talking about the extent of the problem and what we can do to combat it.
As a mobile coffee franchise with a fleet of nearly 100 vans, you might think our business would be responsible for more than its fair share of air pollution. However, that couldn't be further from the truth.
We know how important it is to the planet - not to mention consumers and potential franchisees - to be an environmentally-friendly company and that's why we're on a mission to become the first carbon neutral coffee company in the UK. Here are just a few of the ways we're going about it.
Electric vans
We recently replaced the diesel generators in our fleet of vehicles with lithium-ion batteries, immediately reducing our emissions from in-van generators to zero. Then we went one step further and launched an all-new fleet of 100% emission-free electric vehicles. By switching from petrol powered to electric vans, we expect to massively reduce our CO² emissions over the coming years.
Furthermore, our electric vans have minimal moving parts and more effective brakes, so fewer replacement parts need manufacturing, reducing our greenhouse gas emissions even further.
Recycling
We offer our customers the opportunity to recycle their paper cups to slow the rate at which new disposable cups are produced, as well as a coffee grounds recycling initiative to counteract the 1.8 million tonnes of carbon emissions which are generated by the 500,000 tonnes of coffee waste disposed of in the UK every year.
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.
Going digital
These days, we're almost completely paper-free at Cafe2U.
All files at head office have been digitised and we've done away with traditional loyalty cards and physical pamphlets in favour of an app which allows our customers to receive news, offers and updates digitally instead, massively reducing the amount of paper we use and helping keep more trees in the ground where they help remove pollutants such as carbon dioxide (CO²) from the atmosphere.
Help us make a difference
It's great news that so many organisations are doing everything they can to combat air pollution and become as green as possible and we all owe the organisers of Clean Air Day 2022 a huge debt of gratitude for raising awareness of the issue.
However, it's clear that a lot more work still needs to be done if we're to eradicate the problem of unclean air in the UK once and for all and we need everybody pulling in the same direction if we're ever going to make it happen.
If you're interested in investing in a clean, green franchise like Cafe2U, click here for more information.
For more information on Clean Air Day, click here.