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The coffee pod or capsule, new calamity for the planet?

coffee podsMaking coffee with the capsule or pod is fast and easy. Click! you turn on the machine, wait 2 minutes for the temperature LED to become green, take the pod, splot! put it in the slot, press the button, 10 seconds and… slurp! your coffee is ready!

Yes, but … I have listed six con points for your consideration:

  1. coffee temperature is rather low , if you like your espresso hot, nothing to do, you must resign yourself to drink lukewarm coffee ;
  2. pods are aluminum, so recyclable as a can of beer, the problem is coffee : how to extract the capsule used in order to recycle both the coffee and aluminum ? For the used coffee is excellent example for composting, while aluminum is one of the raw materials whose prices only rise because of their scarcity. But the main problem is that the cups are too small to be captured in most recycling facilities where machinery separates objects by size and density
  3. aluminum can contains bisphenol, causing cardiovascular problems, diabetes and possibly cancer. It is likely that most capsules contain bisphenol
  4. the upper part of the capsule is sealed with a chemical adhesive. Can we be sure that it leaves no toxic residue in the coffee?
  5. The taste is also suffering . Between a roasted coffee and a coffee capsule , the difference in taste sensation is comparable to the difference between a wine from a bottle with cork and wine from a carton …
  6. last but not least , price. A capsule costs between 40 and 50 cents. However, the cheapest arabica coffee costs 1.50 $ for 100 grams. With this amount , one can brew 20cups at less than 6 cents per cup coffee, and there is nothing to recycle.

The best thing would be to use the used coffee for composting or as a fertilizer for the plants if there is no garden.