I suspect the fuel burnt delivering a used coffee pod across Canada has more of an environmental impact than the pod itself. I think this is absolutely an attempt at greenwashing, and these pods...
I suspect the fuel burnt delivering a used coffee pod across Canada has more of an environmental impact than the pod itself.
I think this is absolutely an attempt at greenwashing, and these pods are still a disaster.
Those are different environmental impacts, though. One has to do with plastic wastes in landfills, while the other is more about fossil fuels. How does one go about deciding which of these is "worse?"
Those are different environmental impacts, though. One has to do with plastic wastes in landfills, while the other is more about fossil fuels. How does one go about deciding which of these is "worse?"
From the article and the company doing the recycling it seems they're only recycling the aluminum and composting the grounds. Presumably the plastic ends up in the landfill either way. This just...
From the article and the company doing the recycling it seems they're only recycling the aluminum and composting the grounds. Presumably the plastic ends up in the landfill either way. This just burns a bunch of gasoline to recover a fraction of a gram of aluminum foil, which seems pretty wasteful. I suppose I could empty the cups into my municipal compost and put the foil lid in my municipal recycling to accomplish the same thing without shipping the thing potentially thousands of kilometers away.
Good point, the lack of plastic recycling was conspicuously missing from the article. The article did mention compostable cups. That seems like a good solution in the long run.
Good point, the lack of plastic recycling was conspicuously missing from the article. The article did mention compostable cups. That seems like a good solution in the long run.
The last job office jobs I worked for exchanged coffee machines that ground beans and made coffee all in one with Keurig machines because they didn't require constant maintenance. The problem was...
The last job office jobs I worked for exchanged coffee machines that ground beans and made coffee all in one with Keurig machines because they didn't require constant maintenance. The problem was that it two at least two keurig pods to make one decent sized cup of coffee, at my peak I was drinking up to six cups a day, that's 12 pods a day. Add in 30 other developers with higher than average coffee consumption and we were going through at least a thousand a week. A few of us devs brought up the waste to facilities and their solution was to bring in a company that 'reused' the cups, sounding fishy I looked into it and found out that they essentially burned them as fuel. As a department we just bought ourselves a coffee machine that we maintained instead.
It's good to hear your department made the change. I've often been tempted by the convenience, but can't justify the waste. My bank went from a coffee pot to pods, but found the staff and clients...
As a department we just bought ourselves a coffee machine that we maintained instead.
It's good to hear your department made the change. I've often been tempted by the convenience, but can't justify the waste.
My bank went from a coffee pot to pods, but found the staff and clients were going through too many. The cost drove them to reduce it's usage, but only offering coffee to elite clients, lol.
This is exactly what I was thinking. They just want people to feel less guilty about their product since the pods are recycled, and at no inconvenience to the user. Can't imagine shipping this...
This is exactly what I was thinking. They just want people to feel less guilty about their product since the pods are recycled, and at no inconvenience to the user. Can't imagine shipping this doesn't have a real footprint.
nespresso pods are actually all aluminum - am I really commenting this twice in one thread? am I a nespresso shill now? Will they start paying me? I've been using the nespresso system for a long...
nespresso pods are actually all aluminum - am I really commenting this twice in one thread? am I a nespresso shill now? Will they start paying me?
I've been using the nespresso system for a long time though, and the reason was that I was the only person in my house who drank coffee (and I preferred cappuccinos to drip coffee at the time) but I felt pretty bad about the environmental impact of pods. Nespresso has had an opt-in shipping program for recycling their pods since the beginning through a third party, and they don't have any plastic in them, and aluminum is the most recyclable material we use for preservation at this point.
I'm sure it is a bit of a greenwash for nestle in general because they are an environmental disaster overall, but out of all the coffee pod systems, nespresso has always been the most recyclable - it would probably still be a lot greener to rinse them yourself and take them to the metal recycling place, but that seems like a lot of work for most people's willing effort towards recycling.
n 1997, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters became the first roaster to offer its coffee in the Keurig "K-Cup" pod for the newly market-ready Keurig Single-Cup Brewing System, and in 1998 Keurig...
n 1997, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters became the first roaster to offer its coffee in the Keurig "K-Cup" pod for the newly market-ready Keurig Single-Cup Brewing System, and in 1998 Keurig delivered its first brewing system, the B2000, designed for offices. Distribution began in New York and New England.The target market at that time was still office use, and Keurig hoped to capture some of Starbucks' market.
To satisfy brand loyalty and individual tastes, Keurig found and enlisted a variety of regionally known coffee brands that catered to various flavor preferences. The first of these was Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, and additional licensees for the K-Cup line included Tully's Coffee, Timothy's World Coffee, Diedrich Coffee, and Van Houtte, although Green Mountain was the dominant brand.
Keurig also partnered with a variety of established national U.S. coffee brands for K-Cup varieties, and in 2000 the company also branched out the beverage offerings in its K-Cup pods to include hot chocolate and a variety of teas.
That's from Wikipedia. Essentially what started as an convenience for offices was well researched beforehand and Keurig Green Mountain grew it to a household word. Now, everyone pays for a convenience they may not have needed and swears by the taste. Some of us don't brew just one cup. We drink pots full. And pay less as well as having less in our trash/recycle bins.
Curious what people think when they see this? Is this company just green washing? Are the pods actually being recycled?
I suspect the fuel burnt delivering a used coffee pod across Canada has more of an environmental impact than the pod itself.
I think this is absolutely an attempt at greenwashing, and these pods are still a disaster.
Those are different environmental impacts, though. One has to do with plastic wastes in landfills, while the other is more about fossil fuels. How does one go about deciding which of these is "worse?"
From the article and the company doing the recycling it seems they're only recycling the aluminum and composting the grounds. Presumably the plastic ends up in the landfill either way. This just burns a bunch of gasoline to recover a fraction of a gram of aluminum foil, which seems pretty wasteful. I suppose I could empty the cups into my municipal compost and put the foil lid in my municipal recycling to accomplish the same thing without shipping the thing potentially thousands of kilometers away.
Good point, the lack of plastic recycling was conspicuously missing from the article. The article did mention compostable cups. That seems like a good solution in the long run.
nespresso pods are fully aluminum, there is no plastic.
Now that's interesting. If they're fully aluminum it's probably worth it to recycle them.
I was under the impression it was just a foil cap.
The last job office jobs I worked for exchanged coffee machines that ground beans and made coffee all in one with Keurig machines because they didn't require constant maintenance. The problem was that it two at least two keurig pods to make one decent sized cup of coffee, at my peak I was drinking up to six cups a day, that's 12 pods a day. Add in 30 other developers with higher than average coffee consumption and we were going through at least a thousand a week. A few of us devs brought up the waste to facilities and their solution was to bring in a company that 'reused' the cups, sounding fishy I looked into it and found out that they essentially burned them as fuel. As a department we just bought ourselves a coffee machine that we maintained instead.
It's good to hear your department made the change. I've often been tempted by the convenience, but can't justify the waste.
My bank went from a coffee pot to pods, but found the staff and clients were going through too many. The cost drove them to reduce it's usage, but only offering coffee to elite clients, lol.
This is exactly what I was thinking. They just want people to feel less guilty about their product since the pods are recycled, and at no inconvenience to the user. Can't imagine shipping this doesn't have a real footprint.
nespresso pods are actually all aluminum - am I really commenting this twice in one thread? am I a nespresso shill now? Will they start paying me?
I've been using the nespresso system for a long time though, and the reason was that I was the only person in my house who drank coffee (and I preferred cappuccinos to drip coffee at the time) but I felt pretty bad about the environmental impact of pods. Nespresso has had an opt-in shipping program for recycling their pods since the beginning through a third party, and they don't have any plastic in them, and aluminum is the most recyclable material we use for preservation at this point.
I'm sure it is a bit of a greenwash for nestle in general because they are an environmental disaster overall, but out of all the coffee pod systems, nespresso has always been the most recyclable - it would probably still be a lot greener to rinse them yourself and take them to the metal recycling place, but that seems like a lot of work for most people's willing effort towards recycling.
Pod coffee is the most genius marketing of a product since Starbucks.
It really is, and it's so sad for our environment.
This is interesting. Can you elaborate a bit about how pod coffee is marketing?
n 1997, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters became the first roaster to offer its coffee in the Keurig "K-Cup" pod for the newly market-ready Keurig Single-Cup Brewing System, and in 1998 Keurig delivered its first brewing system, the B2000, designed for offices. Distribution began in New York and New England.The target market at that time was still office use, and Keurig hoped to capture some of Starbucks' market.
To satisfy brand loyalty and individual tastes, Keurig found and enlisted a variety of regionally known coffee brands that catered to various flavor preferences. The first of these was Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, and additional licensees for the K-Cup line included Tully's Coffee, Timothy's World Coffee, Diedrich Coffee, and Van Houtte, although Green Mountain was the dominant brand.
Keurig also partnered with a variety of established national U.S. coffee brands for K-Cup varieties, and in 2000 the company also branched out the beverage offerings in its K-Cup pods to include hot chocolate and a variety of teas.
That's from Wikipedia. Essentially what started as an convenience for offices was well researched beforehand and Keurig Green Mountain grew it to a household word. Now, everyone pays for a convenience they may not have needed and swears by the taste. Some of us don't brew just one cup. We drink pots full. And pay less as well as having less in our trash/recycle bins.
AH. So it's marketed as a convenience product?
I'm not the marketer, but I would say that it was originally marketed as a niche product and then demand moved it to a staples product.