seem to be a 'dream home' idea, in reality, it's a real 'Kitchen Nightmare'.
Introducing... Eco Living Horror Stories From The Real World.
In which I'll (occasionally) write posts
to inform, enlighten and, (I'm hoping ) entertain you.
I'll give you the info you need to bring beautiful #positivechange into
your life. I'll guide you with small 'pain-free' shifts you can make to
turn your chic, modern urban life into the beautiful,
eco-conscious, mindful lifestyle you'd love it to be.
I hope you'll enjoy!
A small batch of the billions of aluminum pull-tab and pop-top tabs
from beverage cans that have been polluting the planet since 1962.
"Civilization
is a limitless multiplication
of unnecessary necessities."
~Mark Twain
- Real Kitchen Nightmares: Issue 1 -
"Trash vs. Convenience"
Like some zombie monster that just won't die,
there are still companies that have
(apparently) learned nothing about sustainability
in the past 50 years.
In this first issue post, I ask the question:
limitless innovation and design skills,
huge research and development resources,
still blatantly choose to NOT design new products
within modern eco and sustainability standards?
Why would they choose to design as if
they were still living in the early 1960's?
My guess?
Profit, over everything, always.
*sigh*...
So in this case, it's Keurig Green Mountain and 'K-Cups'
(the inventors of the single serve coffee maker)
Both of which create a wonderful cup of coffee,
but produce a horrific amount of non-recyclable waste.
Used K-Cups heading off to join the other billions at the landfill.
Cute, tiny cup. Ugly, massive problem.
The K-Cups alone produced enough waste for those
cute, fun, tiny K-cups to encircle the globe over 11 times (by 2014)
and there are an estimated 60 BILLION in landfills over the planet.
to take responsibility for the
mind-boggling amount of earth-destructive trash
they've created and do something about it.
Nespresso was trying recently, after customer inquiries,
and teamed up with famed recycling manufacturer, Terra-Cycle.
Too bad, however, that all the Nespresso capsules
still cannot be sent to your local recycling plant.
To get these recycled, you must save them and ship
to Terra-Cycle's 'Capsule Brigade'. Not perfect, but, it's
still better than having them go the land fill.
And Keurig's recent attempt is similar, but restrictive,
as it's only for workplaces with a Keurig machines.
And again, your business office, not Keurig, has to
deal with saving and packing up the cups and shipping
them to the specialty recycling company, Grounds to Grow On.
There is no current program for individuals to recyle K-Cups.
please do set up a small bin in your kitchen to capture the used cups
and contact either of these recycling centers.
The recylers do try to make it easy for you.
Hoping both Keurig and Nestle will redesign their
proprietary cups with easily recyclable materials for their
next versions of their single serve brewers.
could get all 'retro-chic' and green at the
same time and use this incredible device:
*gasp* a non-electric brewer?!
Yes! It brews 1 or 2 servings,
in less than 2 minutes,
has a reusable (non-disposable) inner filter,
and you can use any kind
of coffee or tea you want.
It will save you hundreds of dollars
and last you for generations.
If you must have an electric, go for it!
Use any small capacity automatic coffee-maker
or electric percolator
with a reusable gold/metal mesh filter
Simple. Green. Kill the K-Cups and Capsules and Pods.
For yourself. For your kin.
For those who will live on this earth in the future.
Enlighten yourself
with the following informational links:
- How much waste comes from single serve coffee pods?
- Single serve trash is one of many eco waste
issues we have. Here's another.
info while watching a giant Cup-zilla Monster take over...
- Adopt the 'Seven Generations' concept into your daily life.
Hope you'll let me know what you think of my new series.
Comment to let me know, and
add your own #positivechange coffee brewing tip.
and, as always, remember to
live beautifully.
stephanie-