Rush (adj.) Sudden and intense feeling of euphoria and pleasure.

FAQ: Home compostable bags

January 19th, 2021

  • The new bags look smaller. Does this mean I am getting less coffee for the same price?

The new 200g bags are smaller, but this doesn’t mean you’re getting any less! Our old silver bags were actually 250g sized (dimension-wise) but still contained the same amount of coffee (200g). The bags tend to “puff up” during the degassing process (more on this here) so appeared to contain more coffee in the past as there was more room (empty bag area) for the gas to expand. It is till the same great coffee; the same volume for the same price (we are absorbing the costs associated with the move to this new packaging – not passing it on to you).

  • What happened to the zip-lock?

Unfortunately this is one of the things we have had to say goodbye to in our quest for planet-friendly packaging. You can either use a clip (or peg) to hold your bag closed once open, or empty it into an airtight container of your choosing. You can still re-use your old silver bags if you buy from us at the Mangawhai Community Market!

  • What are the bags made of?

The bag is constructed using a corn starch inner layer, a cellulose layer made from wood pulp and an outer paper layer. We purchase our bags from Convex; the brand of bags is Econic (which you can read a little more about here). The material used in the bags is called “NatureFlex NKM”; for more information on this product you can check out their website directly here. We use them in our compost at home and are confident you will love them just as much as we do!

  • Do I have to chop up the bag before I put it in my compost?

Ideally it is best to chop/rip them up (after removing the plastic valve) but this is not essential. It just speeds up the process and gives nature a helping hand to break down the packaging. For more information on composting, you can check out the Tui Garden website or Sustainable Kaipara facebook page.

  • I don’t compost, how do I send it back to you?

You can courier/post them back to us, or deliver them to us at the Mangawhai Community Market. If we hand deliver to you on a Wednesday (Kaiwaka/Mangawhai/Ruakaka) or Friday (Te Hana/Wellsford/Warkworth/Matakana/Snells Beach) then you’re welcome to leave your old bags in your letterbox and we can collect when making your next delivery.

Our address for return: Rush Coffee Ltd., 258 Ryan Rd, RD5, Wellsford 0975.

  • Why are you still sending couriers in plastic mailers? 

Our larger courier orders are shipped in cardboard boxes and we are making the change to paper tape. Unfortunately at this stage we have not found an affordable (and genuinely eco-friendly) solution for the smaller volumes. With the “compostable” mailer bags, these do cost more and you have to physically remove all labels prior to composting (some are only able to be commercially composted too). We’re not into hiking prices or green-washing so have decided to stick with our current options at the moment. Postage has always been included in our costs, any changes made may negatively impact this so we want to make extra sure that we have every avenue covered prior to making changes. We are hoping to move to printed courier labels, however this may increase the price for us considerably once again so we do have to thoroughly check to ensure that all avenues are explored.

Have a question and couldn’t find the answer? Email [email protected]!

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