Fresh Brewed Waste?

You’re all probably familiar with the Keurig one-shot coffee machines. They’re pretty handy, I suppose. Well, one rationale for these machines that I can appreciate is that they prevent offices (and homes) from wasting pots of coffee.

I usually focus on food waste–not beverages–but coffee dumping seems so egregious. Most cafes, restaurants and convenience stores dump massive amounts of “joe” each day, usually in the name of freshness. Apparently, at Starbucks a new vat arrives every 30 by midnight glory via creative commons

That’s why I applaud the one-cup notion, in general.

BUT…in this era of environemental consciousness, there are always trade-offs (unless you’re talking about removing trays from cafeterias). In this case, the benefit of less unused coffee combats the negative of abundant packaging. All those little “K-Cups” pile up, as do the boxes that house them.

Making things worse, it’s not easy to recycle these K-Cups because only the foil top is recyclable. You could always get a reusable K-Cup filter, but not many people will. I know Green Mountain Coffee is trying, as well they should because K-Cup purchasing has almost quadrupled from 2002 to 2006. Here’s their take on the topic:

We are now producing more than 3 million K-Cups each week and the environemental impact of the K-Cup waste stream we generate is among the most significant environmental challenges we face.

Another factor is the energy used in making a pot of coffee compared to a bunch of K-Cups. I wonder if the law of diminishing returns applies there. Anyway, I know many of you are passionate about coffee–what’s your take on this topic?

This entry was posted in Energy, Environment, Waste Stream. Bookmark the permalink. Both comments and trackbacks are currently closed.