At a very young age, I began to be very aware of how infinitely beautiful our world is and began developing enormous respect for it. Exposure to it through the Scouts taught me that we are stewards of its preservation. With that idea in my twelve-year-old head, I launched a campaign in our house to turn our family into recycling fools! It took me a few years of sorting paper from trash cans and scolding my folks, but to this day they still save a ream of paper from ending up in a landfill each week. By bringing that same enthusiasm into my roastery, San Rafael Coffee Company itself saves probably two or three reams each week from the landfill.
As a business owner producing a packaged food product, it is my duty to be conscious of the amount of waste my business produces. Since I am producing something my customer will hopefully purchase frequently, I want to make sure that my bottom line doesn’t create avoidable waste.
Packaging is responsible for around 30% of the total waste that reaches a landfill. This is largely due to the prevalence of petroleum-based plastics in most packaging.
My goal from the beginning was to craft high-quality coffee products coupled with recyclable and or even biodegradable packaging. To that end I now use glassine-lined natural kraft paper packaging.
Natural kraft paper is recyclable, biodegradable, and even compostable. The glassine lining this bag is a highly-polished sheet of the same natural kraft paper. The result is a rigid sheet of translucent paper similar to wax paper that is highly grease resistant and resistant to oxygen permeation, which keeps the coffee fresher over time.
This means that once your finished with your coffee, our packaging including labeling is completely recyclable. No more waste! 
Yours in environmental consciousness and awesome coffee,
~Karl Hinbern, Roastmaster
San Rafael Coffee Company
The Freshest Local Roast
