You know what I’m talking about. It’s the “K-Cup phenomenon.”
We’re having a gigantic love affair with single-serving coffee machines. So convenient! So many flavors!
Coffee consumption has increased more than 10% since 2008, and that’s totally driven by single-serving coffee drinkin’. Between 2009 and 2013, traditional roast and ground coffee consumption declined at a 1% rate while K-Cup consumption grew at 80%.
Yay — coffee! More coffee!
There’s just one thing (or, rather, lots of little things).
In 2013, Green Mountain (owner of Keurig, the biggest K-Cup maker) produced 8.3 billion K-Cups — enough to wrap around the equator…
Only 5% of K-Cups are recyclable.
Ouch. We know we are drowning our oceans in plastic. This really can’t be a good idea. The company says it’s set itself a “bold target” of being 100% recyclable by 2020. Good grief! We’ll be buried in K-Cups by then. Or worse, like this:<span class=”redactor-invisible-space”></span>
If you already own a single-serving coffee maker, buy a reusable filter. You’ll save $ and save the planet!
