Organic Coffee Farm In Guatemala Strives For Sustainability (VIDEO)

It takes an enormous amount of water to run a successful coffee farm. But one organic farm in Guatemala is using substantially less to grow its crops.

EarthReport notes that it used to take the farm three million liters of water to produce an annual harvest. Now, it takes just 225,000 liters to produce 7,000 kilograms of coffee. That's a decrease of about 93 percent.

WATCH:

Comments

[vestal99]

06:19 PM on 06/26/2011

I commend the farmers efforts to produce an enviromently friendly corp. As a visitor to the coffee farms in the remote Guatemala, I found that producing a successfull corp takes a tremendous effort. Producing an organic crop while saving that amount of water is quite an undertaking.

[truthinperson]

12:20 PM on 06/17/2011

Little less water, little more child labor. Voila, a sustainable coffee plantation.

[bgraceg]

04:41 AM on 06/16/2011

Appreciate reading something even slightly positive in the environmental arena, thank you.

[AJH]

06:46 PM on 06/15/2011

There is nothing environmentally friendly about a luxury crop with no nutritional value that diverts lands from other more productive uses.

Coffee is not a necessity even if I do enjoy it's luxury. As such it is not sustainable, ever. It may be more environmentally friendly but it is a net reduction in planetary potential for a high.

[bgraceg]

04:44 AM on 06/16/2011

No coffee is not a necessity, but it actually DOES have quite a few health benefits according to many studies - such as reduction in the rate of Alzheimers, diabetes, parkinsons, and some kinds of cancer; also helps with depression. Maybe something to do with its antioxidants.

Not arguing with you on the sustainability issue though.