This last Saturday we watched as our daugh­ter grad­u­ated from col­lege and moved on with her life. She was at a small col­lege, so I didn’t hold out much hope for the qual­ity of the com­mence­ment speaker, but I was pleas­antly sur­prised. Dressed in all the piles of com­mence­ment regalia and stand­ing about 5 feet tall was Dr. Sylvia Earle, the highly regarded oceanog­ra­pher who is a spokesper­son for sus­tain­able har­vest­ing of the oceans fisheries.

The mes­sage that was being com­mu­ni­cated to the grads was not only focused on preser­va­tion of the oceans, but also the respon­si­bil­ity of these emer­gent world cit­i­zens to make a dif­fer­ence in their world, whether that is global in reach, or sim­ply in their own yard. The mes­sage was that they should all do the right thing regard­less of where they are planted.

The mes­sage for us in the cof­fee indus­try is a lit­tle more com­pli­cated but still essen­tially the same. In our global busi­ness, we are faced with ques­tions of sus­tain­abil­ity on the farms, the impact of global cli­mate change on the future, sus­tain­able busi­ness prac­tices in our busi­nesses, eco­log­i­cal and ide­o­log­i­cal choices in energy, serv­ing and pro­duc­tion prod­ucts, cor­po­rate cul­ture, and com­mu­nity responsibility.

How we approach those choices defines us as an indus­try and a com­mu­nity. The idea that we are no longer respon­si­ble just for our own busi­ness, but share respon­si­bil­ity, and account­abil­ity, for sus­tain­able busi­ness prac­tices and eth­i­cal sourc­ing with our part­ners around the world is a rapidly grow­ing and wel­come development.

Specialty cof­fee is a very small com­mu­nity and very inter­de­pen­dent. All of our long-term suc­cess depends on our mutual coöper­a­tion. Whether a sin­gle espresso cart owner or a CEO of a vast inter­na­tional cor­po­ra­tion, we all can find ways to strengthen our mutual bonds to the earth and the folks who walk upon it.

As you read this, pause a moment to con­sider what you can do to make a dif­fer­ence. Can you place an extra trash bin out to col­lect com­postable cups? Maybe a few hun­dred if you oper­ate a chain? Just about every town now has a com­mu­nity com­post­ing cen­ter and small busi­ness that run around col­lect­ing com­posta­bles – if not, start one! It would be a great busi­ness for your teenager! Hold a local event to build water projects in a vil­lage (I love what Portland Roasting does with their water event), in other words, do some­thing, turn the dial a lit­tle today, make a difference.

And speak­ing of mak­ing a dif­fer­ence, CoffeeTalk pub­lishes it’s annual Making a Difference e-zine in July. Be sure to watch for the notice in your e-mail. Read about what oth­ers are doing and how you can get involved.

Cheers,