Keurig environment and health concerns

I personally think it's horrible what these massive quantities of non-recyclable K-cups do to the environment (that's why I will not buy one of these machines).

What's so hard about making a pot of coffee in the morning in a thermal pot that stays warm all day, and wayyy cheaper? Thanks for this important post Cinder.

And kill the golden goose? No way.

From Grist: "Trash from the K-Cups sold last year would circle the Earth almost 11 times

Additionally the waste from production adds to the impact:

The plastic cup is produced from oil (oil is the raw material for plastic), in a factory that uses a lot of energy (contributing to global warming).

The k-cup must then be lined with a coffee filter, filled with coffee, and then sealed with a plastic foil top, which requires more energy.

The k-cup is then packed in a box board container (made from trees, which requires a significant amount of energy to harvest, transport, mill), and a number of box board containers are then packed into a corrugated cardboard box for shipping.

The k-cup boxes are then transported by ship and truck from around the world to coffee distributors (more fossil-fuel).

The coffee distributors then transport the coffee to stores or offices (even more fossil-fuel).

When the k-cups finally reach the consumer, they drop it in the machine, make one cup of coffee, and throw the k-cup garbage in the trash.

But the story doesn't end there... the trash needs to be picked up by a garbage truck and transported to a landfill where it will remain and produce methane gas (a significant greenhouse gas contributing to global warming) as the coffee grounds in those little cups cannot biodegrade due to the lack of oxygen.

Most, not all, things that can't be recycled gets burned for electricity. That reduces the amount of coal, oil and natural gas that is used at the power plants to bring electricity to the world.

Landfill gas is methane and serves a similar purpose.

I know this first hand from working as an Environmental Engineer Manager for Waste Management. Just because something cannot be recycled doesn't mean it's raising our carbon footprint.

I'm now off to make a large cup of coffee consisting of Gloria Jean's Macadamia Cookie k-cup and Green Mountain Autumn Harvest k-cup. And I'm putting the spent k-cups in the trash when I am done.

ETA: WHY would QVC or a host address something like this?

My husband uses the reusable My-K Cup contraption in his Keurig machine. He doesn't feel guilty because the only thing that gets thrown away are used coffee grounds.

Sorry, but I don't feel guilty about the Keurig cups. In the scope of waste in this country and around the world, it is not significant. If you use Nespresso, the aluminum capsules AND the grounds are recycled if that's something you get upset about.

Calm down. If you do single-stream recycling, most k-cups are able to be recycled. You must rinse them out, but then you just add them to your single-stream recycling container. I haven't put a used k-cup in the trash for a long time.

Are you guys for real? Come on I bet most of you think (or thought) nothing of disposing diapers that are much larger than K-cups (yes, I know the residual is biodegradable, but so are coffee grounds). And, what about trashing a perfectly functioning kitchen to get the "latest granite" and "stainless steel appliances". Talk about waste. K-cups don't even compare. Like PamelaSue said, I put the plastic container in my recyclable bin.