My office has one of these single-serving coffee machines, where you put in a coffee “pod” and out comes a mug-full of coffee. The pod and the grounds disappear into the bowels of the machine, to be thrown away later.
The New York Times points out that, not surprisingly, these pods aren’t so friendly to the environment. They generate a lot of waste. The article calls out Green Mountain Coffee, a company that tries to be green in many ways, but is selling an increasing majority of their coffee in pod form. I can’t visualize how many pods we must throw out at my office in a week, but we’re a highly caffeinated bunch, so I bet it’s a lot.
I completely understand the benefit of the single servings, and not just as a manifestation of our single-serving-everything culture. In an office, single serving means less waste, and no warmed-over coffee sitting in the pot for hours. But I don’t understand the need for individually-packaged grounds. The article talks about reusable filters that can be used with normal coffee, which makes a lot of sense, as do compostable pods. (In my office, people would lay claim to the pods for their own compost piles.)
But in the meantime, there aren’t any widespread solutions. I also wonder how the waste from the pods compares to, say, a Starbucks cup. Are those biodegradable? I’m not a coffee drinker, so I never really thought about it. But it seems like coffee, of all things, shouldn’t generate a lot of garbage…
3 Comments
Once this machine dies, we ought to switch to buying bulk coffee beans, and get everyone a French press. They’re about $5 from IKEA, and the coffee is much better anyway.
I approve!
Have you considered using an Aeropress or two? It’s single serving, cheap as hell, a snap to clean up, and makes coffee good enough that I’ve put my percolator out to pasture. The paper microfilters that come with it are biodegradable, but I bet it wouldn’t be hard to find out fashion a reusable filter for use with it either.