People ask me some version of the same question a few times a week: is Common Tides actually sustainable, or is that just the name? Fair question. Every coffee business in Wilmington says something about the environment. I want this page to be the one place where I lay out exactly what we do, exactly who checks it, and exactly what we have not done yet. If you are comparing coffee trucks for an event, or you just care where your morning latte comes from, this is the honest version.
The short version, if you only read one paragraph: Common Tides is a 5-Star Ocean Friendly Establishment, certified by Plastic Ocean Project here in Wilmington. Every cup, lid, and straw is compostable, sourced through Wilmington Compost Company in Rocky Point, and the used cups and coffee grounds go back to Wilmington Compost Company to be composted. The trailer runs entirely on battery power with no gas generator. Receipts are texted, the menu is a QR code, and the lighting is LED. Solar panels are planned but not installed yet. That is the whole list.
The 5-Star Ocean Friendly Establishment Rating
The Ocean Friendly Establishments program is run by Plastic Ocean Project, a nonprofit headquartered at 3975 Market Street in Wilmington. They certify local food and drink businesses that take real, checkable steps to keep plastic out of the Cape Fear River and the Atlantic. Businesses are rated on what they serve with, how they handle waste, and how they operate day to day. Five stars is the top of the scale and it is not the default. You earn it by committing to the full picture rather than swapping out one straw.
Common Tides earned five stars in spring 2026. I wrote about the day the certificate arrived in this post, and about what the certification means for a mobile business that sets up in a different parking lot every day in this one. The part I want to underline here is that it is a Wilmington organization holding a Wilmington business to a standard. Nobody in another state stamped a logo on us. People who clean these beaches decided we were doing it right.
Wilmington Compost Company: Where the Cups Come From and Where They Go
This is the piece most people do not know about, and it is the one I am proudest of, because it closes a loop that most "compostable cup" claims leave open.
A compostable cup that goes into a trash can ends up in the landfill, same as a plastic one. The material only matters if it actually gets composted. So Common Tides works with Wilmington Compost Company in Rocky Point on both ends of the cup's life:
- The cups are sourced through them. Our hot cups and lids are Eco Products compostables, and I buy them directly from Wilmington Compost Company rather than from a national supplier. The cold cups and straws are compostable too. Buying from the same people who will process the waste means the products are ones they know break down in their system.
- The waste goes back to them. I keep a compost bucket at the trailer. Coffee grounds, used cups, lids, and straws go in it during a shift. When it is full, I drive it out to their facility in Rocky Point. It becomes soil, not landfill volume.
I met Riley, Trey, and Mary out at the farm before any of this was set up, and the cup sourcing came out of that visit. I told the whole story in The Quietest Coffee Trailer in Wilmington. The short version is that a local supply chain you can drive to is a better supply chain, and the cups in your hand at a Common Tides event have been to Rocky Point twice.
Battery Power, No Generator
Most coffee trailers and food trucks run a gas generator the entire time they are open. You hear it before you see the truck and you smell it while you wait. Common Tides runs on a home battery backup system instead. It powers the espresso machine at 220 volts, the commercial grinder, the refrigerator, the water pumps, the lighting, and every outlet on the rig through a full four-hour shift on one charge. There is no generator on the trailer at all.
At a wedding that means the trailer can sit next to the ceremony space. At an office building like Skyline Center it means nothing is idling under the windows. At a farm market it means you can hear the person next to you.
What we have not done yet: solar. Panels for the trailer roof are planned, and when they are installed the battery will charge from the sun instead of from the grid between shifts. They are not on the trailer today. I would rather tell you that plainly than let a future plan read like a current feature. When it happens, I will write about it here.
The Smaller Things That Add Up
- Digital receipts only. Receipts are texted. No thermal paper, which is not recyclable anyway.
- QR code menu. No printed menus. It updates in real time and there is nothing to throw away when a price or a seasonal drink changes.
- LED lighting throughout the trailer, which is a large part of why a four-hour shift fits on one battery charge.
- No plastic bags, no plastic straws, no single-use plastic serviceware of any kind, at any event, regardless of what the venue provides.
- Water and cleaning handled on the trailer and hauled out. Nothing from cleaning the espresso machine goes into a storm drain at an event site.
Why This Matters More in Wilmington Than Most Places
Wilmington sits at the mouth of the Cape Fear River, which drains more than nine thousand square miles of North Carolina before it reaches the ocean. A storm drain in a downtown parking lot and the surf at Wrightsville Beach are connected by a very short trip. A coffee trailer that operates at dozens of locations a year has a real cumulative footprint, and it is either a footprint of compost or a footprint of plastic-lined cups. I named the business after the tides. Running it in a way that hurt the water would have made the name a joke.
How to Check Any Coffee Business's Sustainability Claims
If you are choosing between coffee vendors for an event and everyone says they are eco friendly, here are the questions that separate a practice from a slogan. I am happy to answer every one of them for Common Tides, and the answers are above.
- Who certified you, and at what level? A named local program with a public standard beats a self-awarded badge. Ours is Plastic Ocean Project, five stars.
- Where do the compostable cups actually go after the event? If the answer is "the venue's trash," the cup did not help. Ours go to Wilmington Compost Company.
- What powers the setup? "Generator" is the usual honest answer. Ours is battery, and I will tell you the same thing about solar that I told you above.
- Are the practices the same at every event, or only when asked? Ours do not change by venue.
- Can they show you? The compost bucket is on the trailer. Come look.
If you would like a coffee bar at your event that meets all five, tell me about your day and I will follow up within one business day. Corporate and wedding details are on the catering page.