The HH received a french press and a boatload of coffee beans from my parents for Christmas. He gave up his beloved Keurig in exchange for less waste…and of course, it is way less expensive to use the press. So, I thought it was timely when I ran across an article on Treehugger about a German city that is banning coffee pods.
Hamburg, Germany is no longer allowing council money to buy “certain polluting products or product components.” Those include “portion packaging” for coffee machines. The cups in question are Nespresso, but I wonder what this means for the potential future of K-cups? I know they are an environmental nightmare, with very few being recyclable. They do make reusable k-cup pods, which seems a heck of a lot better than just tossing them.
I totally get the convenience of the single use pods–seriously, pretty much everyone I know has a Keurig, but the the environmental impact is huge. I wish they would at least only make the pods that were actually recyclable. How about you, what’s your stance on pod coffee?
~Mavis
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Rosaleen says
As far as I’m concerned, these are so wasteful that I won’t one in my house. I even refused one as a gift.
Lisa says
Same here. I love coffee, so my dad and his girlfriend got us one for Christmas one year. We took it back to the store. I think they’re just awful.
Wynne says
I refused one as a gift, too–but my reasons were less admirable. I think they make really weak coffee, no matter how little water you use.
Carla says
I don’t buy kcups due to the expense. I buy coffee and fill a reusable plastic pod. I do prefer to use a filter in it. I never thought about the pods not being recycled. I’m sure there are millions of them in landfills. I drink one cup of coffee a day so glad for the ease of the pods.
Elise says
I think they are the next plastic bag or plastic water bottle! They don’t compact well, and take up a lot of room in a garbage can. We would never get one. We have 2 sizes of french press for regular use and a bigger coffee maker for company. We definitely don’t need a machine that costs so much to use (buying the K-cups) and then makes so much waste. I’ve hated them ever since the first time I saw them.
The re-usable filters are fine, but so few people use them. The real money-maker for the manufacturers is in the pods.
Cass says
Never use them. Seems a little silly to me to save, what the .02 seconds, that it takes to scoop out some coffee and pop it into the coffee maker. I won’t even go into the waste of energy producing those pods or the pollution created by disposing of them. I wonder if they are made of the same plastic milk jugs are made of that dissolve after a period of time? That might make them a little easier to take.
Sandra says
My mom uses her Kerig daily, because she is so low vision that using a regular coffee maker is difficult and dangerous. She used the reusable pods until her vision got worse, and now has trouble with those. The Kerig lets her remain independent. So, perhaps the k-cup manufacturers can come up with a compostable or recyclable k-cup.
Julie says
They do! San Francisco Bay OneCup. 97% biodegradable and fair trade coffee. It’s great coffee too!
Mavis Butterfield says
97%? That is great Julie!!
Maria says
Thats the brand I use
Mandy says
I don’t drink coffee but my husband loves his beloved Keurig. We compromise by him only drinking the San Francisco Bay pods.
Toni says
Yep, that’s the only kind we use. I won’t by any others. Great for my compost pin.
Heather says
It makes me smile every time a product can give someone the confidence to continue his/her independence.
maria says
I love mine. I buy a brand that is more recyclable than others. There’s no plastic cup part just the plastic ring and the foil top. It is my understanding that the coffee and filter are compostible. I take a knife and carefully cut off the foil top, rinse it and put it in the recycle bin. The coffee and the filter go in the compost bin. Only the plastic ring go in the trash. It’s the best I can do since I love my Keurig.
Earlene says
We have 2 french press pots. Love them, end of conversation
Ginger says
We use an Aeropress at our house. It’s an environmentally sound way to make a single cup of coffee and it’s great for taking camping as well.
Denise says
I quit buying K-cups awhile back, but still use my Keurig to heat water for my tea. I do have a reusable K-cup, but I don’t use it. I have gone back to using my Cuisinart coffee pot that I bought ages ago.
Mel says
We do drip coffee at home (and compost the grounds), but I had a keurig at work since there was no sink or kitchen area to deal with the grounds, rinse the pot, etc.. I still use the keurig (usually with the compostable k-cups, if I can get them) on occasion, but lately I’ve switched to carrying drip coffee from home using a vacuum sealed thermos that keeps the coffee hot for HOURS. Cheaper, more eco-friendly, temperature controlled, and harder to spill.
lynne says
I have a Nespresso. The pods are completely recyclable. Nespresso sends me free bags to ship the pods back to them, free of charge. Makes a fantastic cup of coffee :-).
CathyB says
I have two of the reusable pods, one for regular and one for decaf. Besides the extra trash, the coffee is sooo much more expensive in the Kpods. I like the reusable pods because I can put whatever kind of coffee in. For us a Keurig makes more sense than the regular coffee maker because we each only drink a cup a day of different kinds of coffee. So hubby used to brew a whole pot in the old coffee maker and then either force himself to drink the whole thing or it would sit, get stale and then thrown out. Our coffee bean usage has gone way down since getting a Keurig. I keep a little bucket on the counter that the used grounds go into from the reusable pods and then out to the garden!
Pamela says
I love my Keurig. I use it nearly every day once per day. I have a reusable filter too but haven’t used that in a while.
Crystal says
Expensive, wasteful, and gross. The standing water inside a Keurig can’t really be emptied out or cleaned effectively, and can host some pretty nasty bacteria. Honestly, I don’t see any benefit. If your family likes different things, why not just use a tea bag for the person who likes tea, and different individual coffees for the people who like different kinds of coffee. My mom currently, and has for as long as I remember, uses a coffee filter that you put on top of a cup and make a single cup of coffee. So she can easily make some dark French roast for herself and a Hazelnut flavored one for a guest without needing fancy gadgets or wasting coffee by making a huge pot. And the filters and coffee that are used go into the compost bin and add some great nutrients to the soil.
Patience says
No interest in it whatsoever. I received my stainless french press as a gift last year and it’s all I’ll ever need in the coffee department.
Tracy says
My order comes with a bag from Nespresso, you simply put your capsules in it and drop it in the mail once it is full.
https://www.nespresso.com/us/en/order/accessories/original/recycling-bag
Ashley says
We had a kuerig that we relieved as a gift but the novelty wore off and we sold it. Home ground drip coffee is much cheaper and tastes better. K-cups were faster to brew and individual cup but if I want something after the pot of coffee is gone I just make tea.
JC says
we have these at work, but I still bring in my own loose leaf tea (I don’t drink coffee). I have been against these things from the start because of the individual packaging. I can’t seem to find it at the moment but I read somewhere that they can also get bacteria and gunkie build up since there is no way to clean the lines in the machine. They just seem terrible all around, and I don’t get why they are still so popular.
Linda says
We use our Keurig to make tea (with tea bags, not capsules) & just got a Nespresso for Christmas because we can recycle the capsules. For our every day, morning coffee we use a Melitta pour over method. We buy our beans green online & roast them at home.
Nicole says
I use a Keurig at home but I use one of those reusable Ecobrew cups. I don’t like buying a bunch of one use K-cups. It’s bad for the environment and I prefer choosing what coffee I want to go into the cup.
Vicky T. says
Like so many, we were only French press coffee drinkers here. But after getting a stellar deal on a mini Keurig, we are hooked. Because we each drink our coffee at a different time in the morning, we each get a steaming hot, fresh cup of deliciousness. And we use the San Francisco Bay biodegradable pods. Plus the biodegradable portion we do toss away is surely nothing as awful going into the landfill as disposable diapers or plastic razors!!!
Just to see how it goes, I will start putting our used biodegradable pods into one of our compost piles and see what happens after a year.
Wynne says
Wow, a lot of French press users! Maybe this is a question for Ask Mavis, but how on earth does one clean a French press well? I know, dump the grounds in the compost; but without a filter, the pot is still coated with grounds. I thought we aren’t supposed to put those down the kitchen sink for clog reasons.
jumbe says
Hot water and plastic is not a good combo. I have a metal electric tea pot that heats the water fast with the push of a button, then into the french press and out to the garden with the grounds, a quick rinse and it’s ready for tomorrow.
Angela says
Nespresso pods are made of aluminum and completely recyclable, that’s why I chose a Nespresso machine over a Keurig (well, that and I prefer espresso). 😉
Tracy says
I use reusable pods with my Keurig machine. I grind my coffee into to a fine ground and spoon it into my reusable pods. I also compost my used coffee grounds. It takes a few extra minutes of work but I am not filling up the landfill and I am saving money. I am a serious coffee consumer so I also enjoy my french press as well;).
Deborah says
Silly product, will join the breadmakers and other junk appliances in the trash dumps of the world. Never had one don’t want one, even for free.
Helen in Meridian says
I heard on the radio that Keureg pods are more of a problem now than plastic water bottles, as far as poluting goes.
Susan says
I thought in one of your posts you mentioned using the used K-cup containers for seed starts. I thought that was very clever and a great recycling method! I use them, as does my husband. It’s very much a convenience thing for us, and easy clean-up.