Groundstate Coffee

Hometree’s purpose is land regeneration, how does this align with your company/organisation?
We are concerned about the impact we as humans are having on the planet, and when we opened a coffee roastery, we wanted to do our bit for the environment and begin to offset the carbon produced to transport our green coffee beans from their country of origin, by planting native trees here in Ireland with Hometree.

What is inspiring you to work with a regeneration process like Hometree?
The fact that Ireland is the most deforested country in Europe and Hometree are helping to restore the Irish landscape to its former glory and using indigenous species really resonated with us.

Some of the trees you are planting you will not see mature, together we are working towards more abundant and biodiverse future, in three or four sentences please describe what you would like to invite into the future?
At Groundstate coffee we realise that tackling climatic, environmental, and regenerative problems isn’t just about you and me. It's about the legacy we leave our children and with many environmental issues we need to start local. That is why the Hometree project appeals to us, we hope to see Irish landscapes regenerated with native Irish trees and shrubs, inviting indigenous species of fauna to help restore the unique historical ecosystem of Ireland. We would also like to see an Irish coastline that has less plastic and pollution which can help maintain and promote a healthy ecological environment of flora and fauna.

List two ways you support this invitation at present?
Currently we donate 1% of all coffee roastery sales to cleancoasts.org an Irish organisation that organises beach and marine clean ups nationwide, and creates awareness around marine pollution.

We undertake our own beach clean ups in Tramore and other beaches.

List two ways you would like to support this invitation in the future?
Firstly we would like to support Hometree to support this vision.

Secondly we would like to support in the future more global efforts that support the humanitarian problems caused by climate change, and deforestation.

Do you have a memory that to share about a tree/forests/nature?
Sunday drives with my family to a local forest for walks, picnics and berry picking. The forest was mostly non-indigenous unfortunately.

Other than Hometree can you celebrate other ways you or your organisation supports a healthier environment?
We donate 1% of all coffee roastery sales to cleancoasts.org an Irish organisation supported by An Taisce that organises beach and marine clean ups nationwide, and creates awareness around marine pollution.

Have there been any key moments that you can share about how you or your organisation decided to support a more abundant and healthier world?
At our cafe we strive to use local ingredients and local producers wherever possible. That's why we source a portion of the vegetables used in our kitchen from McNallys Family farm, Dublin. Our bacon is sourced from free range pigs from “Pigs on the Green”, Mullingar. Our sourdough bread is sourced from Firehouse Bakery, Delgany. Our eggs are free-range sourced from “Wicklow Eggs”, North Wicklow.

We’d love to hear and share any key lessons that life has taught you, in as little or man words as you like.
In terms of environmental impact, with choices no matter how big or how small, it always seems on the surface that the easy and cheap option impacts the planet negatively. It's through better life choices, big and small, that we can all work to more sustainable solutions.

As a business some examples are: Packaging for cups and coffee. It always seems that the cheapest, easiest option is more detrimental to the environment.

But it only takes a little thinking outside the box to produce a solution that is easier and cheaper yet does not impact the environment. Instead of using cheaper disposable coffee cups, most cafes now use compostable or recyclable cups which don't always get composted or recycled. But why not encourage customers to bring reusable cups by giving them a small discount as a solution to the problem of used packaging. This is cheaper for both cafe and customer and negates the need for the packaging to be generated in the first place.

Sourcing energy for business. In the future we hope to move our coffee roastery to a new location, where we can generate a large portion of our electricity needs from our own solar panels. We already source our electricity from our electricity company that sources the energy from wind power. But why not go further and be in a position to sell excess electricity back to the grid.

While these are not original ideas, if we think twice about every aspect of our business and its impact on the environment, there are frequently better ways to do business for the planet.