How could something so small be quite so harmful to the environment? Well, single-use coffee pods made by Keurig (Keurig is the leading producer of coffee pods) are part aluminium, part plastic and all nasty to the environment.
Apparently if all the pods were lined up, they would circle the world 12 times. Even the Frankenstein creator of the unstoppable monster, John Sylvan, admitted that he regretted its invention, saying “no matter what they say about recycling, those things will never be recyclable…I feel bad sometimes that I ever did it.”
Adding further to the insult to coffee-pods, here’s a hilarious video, which “demonstrates” why K-cups are so dangerous.
Since 2011, coffee pod sales have more than tripled. Coffee pod machines even outsold drip coffee machines in 2013, with 13 percent of Germans drink pod-brewed coffee. The true tragedy, however, is that people continue to use these things despite knowing how horrible they are for the environment.
“Pods are emblematic of a wider problem in our society, where we often say one thing and generally do another,” said researchers John Rice and Nigel Martin. “In this case, where many of us like to speak about being ‘green’ or living sustainably, even while sipping from a cup of coffee produced by an industry that is about as sustainable as an ageing Soviet nuclear power plant.” Which is why it’s good to see at least one German city, Hamburg, banning the single-use coffee pod from all government buildings.
“These portion packs cause unnecessary resource consumption and waste generation, and often contain polluting aluminium,” said Jan Dube, a spokesman from the Hamburg Department of the Environment and Energy.
“The capsules can’t be recycled easily because they are often made of a mixture of plastic and aluminium. It’s 6 grams of coffee in 3 grams of packaging. We in Hamburg thought that these shouldn’t be bought with taxpayers’ money.”
While coffee pods are still legally used outside of government buildings, it’s certainly as good a place to start as any. Government leading by example, rather than from behind, will set a precedence that citizens would more willingly follow. Hamburg has also imposed other green guidelines on government buildings, banning nonrefillable plastic bottles, plastic cutlery, plates and cups, chlorine-based cleaning products, air freshener and patio heaters.
Jan Kerstan, Hamburg’s environment senator, said that “our objective is to increase the share of environmentally friendly products significantly, in order to help combat climate change.”
Major producer of the pods, Nespresso, said that it was surprised by the German city’s decision; it claims that “portioned coffee makes sense, both economically and in terms of sustainability.” Reducing the coffee and water used per cup, it is claimed, offsets the impact on the environment caused by the packaging.
Sources: NPR, Science Alert, Fox News
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