I feel bad sometimes that I ever did it
John Sylvan, inventor of coffee pods
I stopped using our Nespresso machine after reading about the environmental impact of coffee capsules: “Nespresso had sold an estimated 28 billion capsules worldwide – about 28 million kilograms of aluminium, much of which may be sitting in landfill, with recycling figures not made public.”
“Western consumers are generally supportive of the environment – so long as they don’t have to do anything about it.“
On the other hand, it was great to read about NZ company ‘Honest Coffee Co’ in this article.
“Traditional pods could take more than 500 years to decompose, and had to be emptied of coffee grounds, have their aluminium lids removed and in some cases taken to a store to be recycled. … Nespresso, along with other coffee pod manufacturers, were named third in New Zealand’s Unpackit Worst Packaging Awards last year.”
According to their website: “Given that billions of capsules are sold each and every year, it was only a matter of time before the aluminium and plastic packaging started to take its effect on the environment. Made from plant based materials, our capsules biodegrade 1.5 years earlier than an orange peel.”
Stoked to see that my local supermarket is one of their stockists! Looks like I might not boycott our coffee pod machine after all, and can support local business at the same time.
