Do you have a Keurig coffee machine in your office? The K-cups, or single-serve coffee pods that are used to make a quick cup of coffee with the Keurig machine has become popular in recent years. But the convenience that the pre-packaged coffee pods provides comes at a high cost to the environment.
A study conducted by the Coffee Association of Canada on the coffee drinking trends in Canada found that two-thirds of adult Canadians drink coffee every day and noted a drastic increase in 2013 in the number of coffee drinkers who primarily use single-serve machines like Keurig, Tassimo and Nespresso. It is estimated that 10 billion used coffee pods produced by these machines end up in landfills each year in Canada.
To raise public awareness on the growing waste problem caused by the K-cups, a creative film company has produced a short horror film called Kill the K-Cup before it Kills Our Planet. This 2-minute satirical film carries an important message. You can click the thumbnail below to watch it.
At Sheridan, the used coffee pods add to the amount of our landfill waste and thus increases our waste haulage fees. In other words, the true cost of every cup of coffee made from the Keurig machine is more than the cost of the coffee machine and the cost of the pod.
So what are some of the eco-options for coffee drinkers?
One is to brew your own coffee with fresh coffee grounds. Not only can this type of coffee provide better quality and flavor but it can also eliminate the pod waste.
If you don’t have time to make coffee from coffee grounds and you have already bought a Keurig coffee machine… what can you do to help reduce the waste problem?
The K-cup as a whole unit is not recyclable. It is made of a plastic pod that contains a paper filter with a tin foil lid. Instead of throwing 100% of the packaging of the waste pod into the Landfill bin, you can reduce this amount by taking the unit apart. The paper filter and ground coffee can go to the Organics (green) bin and the tin foil can go to the Mixed Recycling (blue) bin. The plastic pod should go to the landfill bin as it is too small to be processed at the Sheridan’s Waste Management Recycling Facility.
Another option is not to use K-cups and use the type of coffee pods that are compostable. They are currently available from a few, small companies.