Are you looking for sustainable cafes in Brooklyn? Maybe you’re tired of getting your coffee in a single-use cup that leeches plastic into your drink as you sip away. EcoRate is here to help!
We put together this list of ten sustainable cafes in Brooklyn so that you can go out for coffee without feeling like an ecovillain. We even go a lot further than this list. Our app is a live map of sustainable cafes and refill stores so that you can always find the best eco-friendly option near you. And you can even contribute sustainability reviews of the places you go to help us build out the resource.
What makes a cafe eco-friendly?
Some large chains have dubious sustainability certifications for the sourcing of their beans in particular. If they can’t be bothered to run their in-store operations sustainably, which you can plainly see, how can you trust them to do great things for sustainability deeper down the supply chain where you have zero visibility?
At EcoRate, we focus primarily on what you the customer can observe. How does the cafe fulfill everyday orders? If a cafe is actively working to prevent single-use waste generated on-site, they will generally get a good ecorating.
So here’s the list given in order of their ecorating, where 5 is the highest. But at ~1.7, the average is quite low! So any cafe with a 3 or higher is doing pretty well comparatively. We have a lot more cafes on our map, but these are the highest-scoring ones in Brooklyn.
Artshack Cafe 5⭐ – 1129 Bedford Ave
Artshack made a bold choice for sustainability. They’re a reusables-only cafe. Are you having a hard time imagining how that would even work? It’s a rare but refreshing choice, but don’t worry you can still get coffee to go. They obviously let people bring their own thermos, and naturally the mason-jar deposit system is in full swing at Artshack. They also participate in the Cup Zero cupshare program, so you can use one of those thermoses for a to-go drink too. They’re no cost to you as long as you return them to any participating cafe within two weeks.
But why would you want to get your coffee to go when Artshack is such a nice place to hang out? They also have a pottery studio next door, so all of their on-site reusables are beautiful ceramic plates and mugs. It’s a nice touch that adds a lot of personality.
IXV 4.3⭐ – 497c Pacific St
IXV does just about everything they can to prevent single-use waste. The cafe is welcoming and they strongly encourage people to stick around to have their coffee. Since they serve dine-in orders with reusables, this keeps so many single-use items out of the waste stream. I would say it prevents countless single-use items, but they actually keep a literal count. They’re so proud of how much waste they prevent, they show it prominently on a chalkboard on the sidewalk. Remember to take a look at what this month’s tally is next time you go.
The single-use items they do use for take out orders are all compostable. It goes without saying that they compost and recycle themselves as well. If you are getting your drink to go though, you can get it to go in a mason jar with a deposit. That also gives you a convenient excuse to go back to return the jar and get your deposit back. Second coffee anyone?
Beyond being an eco-friendly cafe, IXV is a major hub of community activity. I’ve seen information tables set up for a local solar company and NYC’s composting initiative. A sketch artist drew portraits of people’s dogs, and I was able to participate in a crochet lesson at the cafe right alongside the owner Jenny. Her previous career was in the fashion industry and even sells some “remade” clothing at IXV. What is remade clothing? Come to IXV and hear about it directly from Jenny.
The cafe also sells a few zero waste items like soap, tumblers, and of course coffee beans/grounds. This means they’ll also show up when you use the refill store filter in our sustainability app. They offer one of the best deals on fresh coffee beans in town and they do it packaging free!
Gaia NoMaya 4.0⭐ – 512 Flatbush Ave
If you want some inspiration for your next upcycling DIY project, get your next coffee at Gaia NoMaya. They build out all their furniture and decor from 99% upcycled materials. Construction-site waste was repurposed into breathtaking bar. Each table is hand-built and unique. The whole place is a total feast for the eyes. They’re also a lot more than a cafe with space for events, yoga sessions, parties, and some spa treatments. If for some reason you want to take your coffee to go instead of having it there, you can get it zero waste to go since they participate the Cup Zero cupshare program too.
Principles GI Coffee House 4.0⭐ – 139 9TH St Gowanus
Principles GI is one of the newest additions to the EcoRate map, and they’ve rocketed all the way to #4 on this list! They’re making a concerted effort to cut back on single-use items in their cafe. Principles uses their space to host musical performers, artists, and bicycle events. They make a point of stressing that the cafe is for people of all walks of life, especially the most marginalized. It’s even a vegan cafe. Did you know that even if you get just a spot of milk in your coffee, that tiny bit of milk has a bigger carbon footprint than the whole cup coffee?!
Principles GI has the goal of completely eliminating single-use items from their cafe by 2023, so keep an eye on this one! I bet their ecorating is going to keep improving.
Nook 3.8⭐ – 45 Irving Ave Unit 1
Nook is a spacious and hip cafe that fits right in to the dynamic atmosphere characteristic of Bushwick. One way it stands out though, is that Nook serves with reusables only for dine-in. It sounds super basic, but that really cuts down dramatically on how much waste is generated at a cafe.
Like most places in New York City, Bushwick gets a bit overrun by single-use waste littering its streets, but Nook pitched in to help! Nook recently hosted EcoRate’s Coffee & Sustainability meetup group to help do something about it. We teamed up with the Clean Bushwick Initiative and Precycle and picked up as much litter as we could between Nook and Precycle. You can read all about it in this previous blog post. Participate in fun low-waste solutions by stopping by Nook next time you’re in Bushwick.
Villager 3.8⭐ – 841 Classon Ave
Villager is a little oasis of sustainability in Crown Heights. They’re certainly enthusiastic about running their cafe sustainably; they’ve even got a Clever Carbon chart comparing the carbon footprints of different kinds of coffee orders (spoiler: the footprint shoots up the more milk or creamer you have in your coffee). But I think they mostly maintain their sleek and polished feel because it looks great. Being a low-waste venue has so many knock-on benefits. Come check out this neighborhood gem for yourself.
Little Skips East 3.8⭐ – 1643 Broadway
Saddled alongside the J and Z subway lines on Broadway, you’ll find Little Skips East. It’s a cozy spot with friendly staff, an outdoor seating area, and special events from time to time. What they don’t have is many single-use items for dine-in orders. It’s really not rocket science to prevent a bunch of common waste. They also offer a cupshare program if you want a drink to go.
Little Skips East even has a sister cafe called Little Skips South. They both have the same management, so how come Little Skips East made this list but Little Skips South didn’t? Over several user reviews, we’ve noticed that Little Skips East is more consistent about defaulting to reusables for dine-in drinks. Getting all staff to adhere to waste-reduction policies can be a bit of a challenge. In the end, having a policy is not enough, it has to be consistently put in practice.
Eleva 3.6⭐ – 7 Bell Slip
Similar to Villager, I appreciate Eleva even more because it’s one of the only cafes in its part of Greenpoint to use reusables for dine-in. It’s hard to believe that coffee in a mug is hard to come by, but that’s why EcoRate is here to help! Walkers tip: if you’re walking from Long Island City over the Pulaski bridge, the stairs in the middle of the bridge are a great shortcut to Eleva.
La Cantine 3.6⭐ – 60 Saint Nicholas Ave
Bushwick is easily the best neighborhood for cafes in New York City. This is true both for how nice they are and how eco-friendly the cafes are. So it’s no surprise that La Cantine is in Bushwick with it’s cozy atmosphere and consistent use of reusables. It’s always more aesthetically pleasing to use mugs instead of single-use cups, but La Cantine takes their ceramics a step further with this cool rack and stackable mug shape.
Even more sustainable cafe recommendations…
Do you want tips on even more sustainable cafes in Brooklyn and beyond? Well you’re in luck, because we’ve got a whole app full of them. EcoRate is free to use and can help direct you to neighborhood gems like the ones above. And by using our app to review cafes, you’ll be helping yourself and others reduce their environmental footprint. With your help we’ll reach our goal of cleaning up the cafe industry!
