This is a guest blog written by Suzanne at Thanks Suzanne who we have worked with locally and offers a wonderful and unique collection of handmade jewellery.
You might think that in the UK, we are a nation of tea drinking addicts and as a true Yorkshire girl, you really can’t beat a cup of Yorkshire Tea. But, like the majority of brits, I have fallen in love with the café / coffee culture. Pre lockdown it had been fully adopted in the UK, with a surge of independent high street coffee shops and the more well known ones. The freedom to meet a friend, colleague or family member for a coffee, chat and maybe that sneaky piece of cake is something I’ve certainly missed throughout lockdown. Not necessarily the coffee itself, but the social aspect of the café culture, the ability to have a face to face conversation and engage with people rather than via social media.
Coffee obsession
In the UK, we now drink over 95 million cups of coffee per day. As a family, we have really embraced the café culture; not just for two tired parents to get their caffeine fix but it also plays an important role in our family social life. Weekends are normally consumed with walks, bike rides and activities, all of which end up in a café.
Lockdown may have put an end to the café culture as we know it for the time being, but it is estimated that now over a third of the population owns a coffee machine, with single use coffee pods leading the way in popularity. The queue outside our local Costa Coffee Drive Thru last week reflects how us brits really do need our daily caffeine hit!
Recycling schemes
As a Nespresso Owner, I must admit that I do love the convenience of single use pods; a variety of flavours and barista style coffee all from the push of a button. In the UK, Nespresso have a recycling scheme for their pods and up to the launch of my business, as a family, we were regular users of it, finding it a convenient and easy way to recycle. However, after some research I was still shocked to discover that even with coffee pod companies offering recycling schemes, over 29,000 per year still end up in landfill.
My inspiration
My daily morning Nespresso caffeine fix soon became my inspiration to build my business on. I launched Thanks Suzanne last year, as an online ladies boutique. I love shopping, clothes and accessories and as I was building the business, I began researching the impact of fast fashion on the environment. As a shopaholic, I knew that the market was already becoming saturated with amazing independent high street boutiques, so not wanting to re-invent the wheel and repeat what had already been done, I wanted to create my own individual brand. I knew I wanted my brand to be as sustainable, and eco friendly as possible and after many morning Nespresso fixes, I started looking at the pods, wondered what else they could be used for.
Our Jewellery Collection
This year we launched our own Jewellery Collection out of the coffee pods, and in doing so we have put a great deal of effort into making sure that every aspect of the coffee pod gets re-used.
The aluminium pod itself is the main component of our jewellery and provides the start of each piece of jewellery which we handmake. Obviously, we need to clear the pods out from the coffee, this is quite a lengthy and time-consuming process, which leaves me with a lot of coffee! The coffee goes straight into our compost heap or directly onto the garden as a fertiliser. Yes, coffee can be used as fertiliser! We also hope to begin to send you some coffee for your plants and gardens when you place an order and making our whole process even more sustainable. Watch this space!
Our collections are named after coffees; from Cappuccino to Mocha and we will also be launching an Expresso Martini Collection for those of you like me who love handbags, shoes and cocktails!
Whilst our daily Nespresso Fix has helped get us through lockdown and homeschooling, we are definitely looking forward to embracing the social aspect of the UK’s café culture once again in the near future.
If you own an independent Café or can recommend any throughout the UK then please get in touch as we are creating a directory on our website for independent coffee shops. Email: suzanne@thankssuzanne.co.uk.
10% off
Thank you to Suzanne for her guest blog about the sustainable jewellery collection. We love the range of earrings and necklaces available with some lovely colours and patterns. For the entire month of June, she has agreed to offer a 10% discount against any orders when you use TLC10 at the checkout. Happy shopping and if you need any advice on colours or patterns, please do get in touch and I’d be happy to help.
Visit: www.thankssuzanne.co.uk or email Suzanne at suzanne@thankssuzanne.co.uk.