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The coffee may be fine, but k-cups are some of the most environmentally unfriendly products ever produced. They cannot be recycled, they do not biodegrade, and

The coffee may be fine, but k-cups are some of the most environmentally unfriendly products ever produced. They cannot be recycled, they do not biodegrade, and they are produced in the billions. Apparently (citation needed), the inventor regrets his invention. If you must drink pod coffee, consider Nespresso, which despite the questionable record of the Nestle company, can be fully recycled.

duxup 4y ago
Kirkland cups have a recycling symbol (5) on them. Just take the foil off and rinse and I’m told they are good to recycle.
- MAGZine 4y ago
  reduce, reuse, _then_ recycle. It's better to not use, or to reuse, then to try and recycle something. Despite the fact that it contains a "recycling" logo, the logo is really more of a indication of which plastic it is, rather than whether or not if it'll ever _actually_ be recycled. Of course, you can eliminate doubt by just not producing the waste to begin with.
  - duxup 4y ago
    I have trouble keeping up with different folks approaches from comment to comment. The other guy mentioned using some that are recyclable so that’s why I mentioned that. Beyond that what am I supposed to do make a pot of coffee that mostly I won’t drink?
    - MAGZine 4y ago
      you can purchase drip machines that make single servings. I use aeropress with a steel filter, which makes a single cup and produces no waste. It does take a little more effort than popping a kcup in a machine, but not so much to deter me from making coffee.
- abstract_put 4y ago
  I think by and large recycling programs could generally be described as "a sham" pretty accurately. I'm sure there are good programs somewhere, but locally I think it was estimated (ballpark, just trying to remember) like 5-10% of recyclable plastic ends up being recycled vs. in a landfill or incinerated. Of that, some depressingly small amount is actually usefully recycled. Back of the napkin, if you buy a 30-pack of recyclable cups and are diligent about taking the foil off roughly 1 of those 30 will be meaningfully recycled. Obviously not "you" here, just trying to make a statistics point that recycling is usually (depending where you live) closer to a lie than not.
  - duxup 4y ago
    At that point why bother recycling anything?
    - abstract_put 4y ago
      I'm not sure, reading the local stats really discouraged me and also made me aware of some stuff I had been recycling that wasn't actually handled so would be redirected to the landfill anyways. I guess because some is better than none? I think it's a good question though. If people stopped thinking of recycling as effective, would "reduce" and "reuse" get more limelight to the point of being an overall win?

duxup 4y ago

Kirkland cups have a recycling symbol (5) on them. Just take the foil off and rinse and I’m told they are good to recycle.

MAGZine 4y ago
reduce, reuse, _then_ recycle. It's better to not use, or to reuse, then to try and recycle something. Despite the fact that it contains a "recycling" logo, the logo is really more of a indication of which plastic it is, rather than whether or not if it'll ever _actually_ be recycled. Of course, you can eliminate doubt by just not producing the waste to begin with.
- duxup 4y ago
  I have trouble keeping up with different folks approaches from comment to comment. The other guy mentioned using some that are recyclable so that’s why I mentioned that. Beyond that what am I supposed to do make a pot of coffee that mostly I won’t drink?
  - MAGZine 4y ago
    you can purchase drip machines that make single servings. I use aeropress with a steel filter, which makes a single cup and produces no waste. It does take a little more effort than popping a kcup in a machine, but not so much to deter me from making coffee.
abstract_put 4y ago
I think by and large recycling programs could generally be described as "a sham" pretty accurately. I'm sure there are good programs somewhere, but locally I think it was estimated (ballpark, just trying to remember) like 5-10% of recyclable plastic ends up being recycled vs. in a landfill or incinerated. Of that, some depressingly small amount is actually usefully recycled. Back of the napkin, if you buy a 30-pack of recyclable cups and are diligent about taking the foil off roughly 1 of those 30 will be meaningfully recycled. Obviously not "you" here, just trying to make a statistics point that recycling is usually (depending where you live) closer to a lie than not.
- duxup 4y ago
  At that point why bother recycling anything?
  - abstract_put 4y ago
    I'm not sure, reading the local stats really discouraged me and also made me aware of some stuff I had been recycling that wasn't actually handled so would be redirected to the landfill anyways. I guess because some is better than none? I think it's a good question though. If people stopped thinking of recycling as effective, would "reduce" and "reuse" get more limelight to the point of being an overall win?