Going green is the new buzz word as people have become aware of the need for everyone to do their part in saving the environment. And, while single serve coffee makers have become very popular with consumers, along with that comes extra packaging used in the storage of the ground coffee for each single serve unit.
If you are considering the purchase of a single serve coffee maker you may want to become familiar with the various types of packaging for the coffee that are used in the single serve makers.
Coffee pods are coffee’s version of a tea bag. They are small discs made of coffee filter material that contain the ground coffee inside. Hot water runs through them to give you a fresh brew in every cup. Coffee pods are used in a variety of brands of single serve coffee makers.
Coffee pods are a good choice in going green because they can be fully recycled. The pods are ideal for compost: they can be placed directly in the compost heap and will disintegrate into the compost. Also, the pods are not made using any plastics which can also use up our natural resources, which is yet another reason that coffee pods are the best environmentally sound choice when deciding on a single serve coffee maker.
Some single serve machines use plastic cups, K-cups. The cups look like creamer cups, are filled with the ground coffee, and have a foil lid. These are not recyclable. The coffee makers that use these cups are excellent machines, but the cups are adding to the problem of overcrowded landfills. The company that makes the plastic K-cups is expanding its efforts to make the cups recyclable sometime in the near future.
In the meantime, if you have a coffee maker that uses K-cups and you are concerned about the impact all those plastic cups are having on the environment, there are a couple options that will let you enjoy your one cup maker while still be environmentally friendly. A product is available that is a reusable coffee filter for your K-cup machine. This is a reusable filter that fits in your one cup maker. It also allows you to use your own coffee if you desire.
Another product, called My K-Kap is a plastic lid that makes a K-cup reusable. The foil lid is taken completely off and is replaced with the plastic lid. So, while the K-cup is not very environmentally friendly, there are ways to use your K-cup coffee maker and still have less of a negative impact on the environment.
Nespresso is another brand of single serve makers. Nespresso machines use a sealed aluminum foil capsule to seal in the ground coffee. While these aluminum capsules can be recycled, the many that are thrown out in the landfills will not biodegrade. While the Nespresso company is putting plans in place to increase the capacity to recycle the aluminum cups and have a goal of decreasing their carbon footprint by 20% in the next few years, this is still to be realized.
Overall, the choice of single serve coffee makers is one that you will need to make based on your own preferences. However, for those of us who are trying to go green and do our part to preserve natural resources, coffee pods are still the best choice. When they are used in compost piles they are able to give back to the Earth and aid in the cycle of replenishing our natural resources.
