They come in different colors, sizes, and some even have black and white touch screens. Almost one in three American homes owns a Keurig and some of us even brought ours to college. Keurigs, which are pod-based coffee machines usually intended for making a single cup of coffee, are everywhere. When I know that the line at the Courtyard Cafe is probably going to be long and will make me late to class, I pop a little K-cup in my Keurig and I receive a warm cup of coffee in seconds from the comfort of my own room. When it comes to K-cups, there are so many choices such as different coffee roast levels, different coffee brands, and you can make hot tea and hot cocoa with your Keurig as well (now they’re even offering Snapple that you can brew over ice and chicken noodle soup cups!). However, despite the apparent benefits of having a Keurig, a lot of controversy has sparked around the harm that the pods may be causing to the environment.
The plastic used to make the K-cups has four layers, known as plastic #7, and is a mix that is not biodegradable and is only recyclable in a few parts of Canada and nowhere else. It is a specialized plastic that keeps the coffee protected and that is able to hold up during the brewing process. There are three parts to a pod: the plastic with a filter, the coffee grounds, and plastic tin foil. No easy way exist to separate them for recycling. I feel that very few people would take the time to break these pods apart to recycle them; it sounds like a tedious thing to do. These non-biodegradable pods end up in landfills and over time, after exposure to sunlight, water, and air, they begin to emit toxic pollutants that can end up contaminating water. The pods themselves can also end up in bodies of water, pollute the water, and cause a lot of harm to the organisms that live there.
Luckily, there is a way to avoid having these non-recyclable pods end up in landfills. We could all just stop buying K-cups. If you do not want to get rid of your Keurig or if you simply do not wish to stop using it, you can simply purchase a refillable cup. The refillable cup is a good idea because it works just like the other pods, except you can fill it with ground coffee of your choice and when you are done you can simply throw away the coffee grounds, wash the cup, and reuse it. I felt a bit guilty about owning a Keurig because I was initially ignorant to the fact that these cups are not biodegradable, but then again, I rarely think about where my trash ends up (which is sad, I know). Now that I am aware of the harm that they can cause to the environment, I want to take the proper steps to try to be more environmentally conscientious. It would make a difference if a lot of people came together and agreed to stop using K-cups. However that would be difficult to acheive overnight, so the next best thing we can do is educate ourselves to be better consumers. Some of us definitely need our coffee in the morning, so it is good to know that there are alternative and earth-friendly ways to get our caffeine fix.
If you would like to sign a petition to kill the K-cup you can visit http://www.killthekcup.org. There, you can also find more information about the harms K-cups can cause to the environment and how to become involved with the cause.