Green Daily

This is an issue an Green Mountain Coffee Roasters is looking into different packaging materials, recycling, etc. of the K-cups. They do have resuable filters (http://www.greenmountaincoffee.com/prdNonCoffee.aspx?Name=My_K-Cup)

My K Cups that can be used in the Keurig coffee maker.

As to why one would want to brew only one cup at a time, it has more to do with waste and freshness of the coffee. I brew a full pot every morning, put some into a thermos for later and invariably pour some out at least twice a week. If I had a Keurig I could make coffee on demand.

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We read through your posting about environmental impact of the K-Cup portion pack and want to respond to your concerns.

As you know, packaging is an area of major environmental concern for all consumer product companies. As the single-cup coffee market and our Keurig brewing systems grow in popularity, we understand that the impact of the K-Cup waste stream is one of our most significant environmental challenges. Today’s K-Cup portion pack is not recyclable or compostable and finding a better approach is a big priority for us. We are working on a few different fronts to improve the environmental characteristics of the K-Cup system, as well as to mitigate its impact.

Here’s what we’re doing:

First, we are actively researching alternatives to the petroleum-based materials that make up the K-Cup. We are continually looking for ways to improve all of our coffee packaging, while still maintaining the freshness and quality that consumers have come to expect from us. We have made some strides in this area. Our hot and cold beverage cups are made from fully renewable materials. And our new 10 and 12 ounce bags of coffee are made with 19% PLA – a bio-plastic sourced from sugar.

Second, we are conducting a Life-Cycle Analysis to help us quantitatively understand the environmental impact of the K-Cup. Waste at the end of a process is an important factor in understanding the environmental impact of a product, but impact occurs throughout a product’s life. By studying the full impact of K-Cup packaging, we can more clearly understand how and where we can take concrete steps to reduce its impact.

Third, we are introducing more Fair Trade Certified coffees into our K-Cup line. We believe that’s good for Fair Trade. Because the K-Cup portion pack market is growing quickly, having Fair Trade Certified coffees in K-Cups exposes more people to great Fair Trade Certified coffees and helps grow the Fair Trade system. K-Cup portion packs also help increase awareness of the missions of our valued partners like Heifer International and Newman’s Own Organics.

Finally, as mentioned in the responses above, we offer “My K-Cup,” a reusable filter assembly that can be filled by the consumer, is easily cleaned, and is compatible with all Keurig home brewers sold today.

We encourage you to review our new Corporate Social Responsibility webpage (http://www.brewingabetterworld.com) to learn more about all of our programs and products and our efforts to bring new, more sustainable solutions to the market.

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