Green Mountain Coffee, I Have A Bone To Pick With You.
I just saw an ad for Green Mountain Coffee on a fellow green blog (I won’t name names, this has nothing to do with them). The ad says “Brewing A Better World” (pictured above) and talks about their fair trade certified coffee. Fine, great, good for you. But, what about brewing single cups of coffee in small disposable and non-recyclable plastic cups with foil tops makes a better world? Sure, your coffee might help farmers in other countries, but your single use “k-cups” are destroying the planet and filling our landfills needlessly. Whatever happened to brewing several cups at a time with a coffee filter and ground beans? I understand everyone has different tastes and we all like variety, but this is so wasteful.
I have despised these Keurig machines since I first saw one and hoped at least the coffee would be a small justification for this thing, but no, the coffee is simply horrible. If there was a stale pot of yesterday’s coffee right next to it, I would microwave that over using this machine.
My distaste for Keurig aside, my first reaction to the ad was “Oh, cool, they’re using organic coffee,” or “great, they’re making the company more green,” but no, they’re pointing our eyes in the other direction so we can ignore their hugely unsustainable practices and product. Now we can all feel a little bit less guilty about filing out landfills. This might seem a little nit-picky, but as a advertising professional, I really value companies who make a substantial effort to reduce their impact, and this company seems not to care.
July 23rd, 2008 at 1:20 pm
Hi
You’re not the first person to complain about the plastic k-cups and its a legitimate complaint.
However, Green Mountain Coffee says they are working on a solution to the problem.
In the meantime, if you like the brewer then you can get the re-usable filter “my-kcup” and brew a cup of coffee of your choice. You don’t need the k-cups and in my opinion you get a better brew. Not to mention a much wider selection of whatever coffees you preffer.
And to top it off, the price per cup is considerably less.
July 23rd, 2008 at 2:25 pm
Thanks for the comment.
I’ve seen those k-cups that you refill and if I had the system, they would be the only way I’d use it, but unfortunately, the majority of people will still see those as less convenient than buying pre-measured and pre-made k-cups.
I’d love to find out more about what solutions they’re researching.
July 24th, 2008 at 7:36 am
Hello,
K-CUP® ENVIRONMENTAL MESSAGE
6.30.08 Sent out company wide:
As Keurig® Single-Cup brewing systems grow in popularity, the environmental impact of the K-Cup® waste stream is one of the most significant environmental challenges we face.
There are three packaging elements within the K-Cup — the cup itself, a layer of filter paper and an aluminum foil top. The polyethylene coating of the filter and foil — as well as the process of heat-sealing the various elements — prevents oxygen, light and moisture from degrading the coffee and spoiling the product. Without the barrier these materials provide, we could not maintain the quality and freshness of the coffee in the K-Cups, which means that all the resources and effort put into growing and roasting great coffee would be wasted.
From a disposal perspective, however, the packaging is not as advantageous. The heat-sealing makes it difficult to separate the K-Cup into individual components after use. Further, in most markets today, it is unlikely that any of these three materials would be recyclable in their original forms. These issues effectively rule out the possibility of recycling used K-Cups.
Finding a more sustainable approach to this packaging challenge is a big priority for us, as is developing a better understanding of the product’s environmental performance over the course of its lifespan.
Life cycle analysis provides a method of comparing the environmental performance of a product or service throughout its life: from raw material production, to manufacturing, distribution, use, disposal, and all intervening transportation steps. This holistic assessment can sometimes lead to counter-intuitive results. For example, a recent study compared the environmental performance of a one-gallon bulk milk container to using four individual quarts. One might think that bulk packaging would be environmentally preferable because it provides the most product in the least amount of packaging. However, the study found that if five percent of the milk in the bulk container was wasted or spoiled, it would have been environmentally preferable to package the milk in four individual quarts.
So how is this relevant to coffee? We don’t yet understand the life cycle analysis of the K-Cup as it compares to traditional coffee packaging. However, the above analysis raises the possibility that single-serve products can save energy and natural resources when compared to larger bulk products, if using single-serve products means that less of the product goes to waste. This certainly doesn’t lessen our commitment to finding more sustainable packaging, but the theory has made for some interesting discussion here. At this time we intend to do a life cycle analysis of the K-Cup and our 10/12-ounce bag as we strive to better understand the environmental impact of our coffee packaging.
We are working to improve the environmental characteristics of the K-Cup system itself, as well as mitigate its impact. We are actively researching alternatives to the petroleum-based materials that make up the K-Cup. One alternative is bio-polymers, which are made from substances like corn. Although the cup wouldn’t necessarily be recyclable it would then be made from a renewable resource and be more sustainable than the existing cup we now use. We also offer a reusable K-Cup that is filled by the consumer, easily cleaned, and compatible with all Keurig home brewers, with the exception of the original B100. We also try to compensate for the negative impacts of the K-Cup by linking the K-Cups to our Fair Trade Certified coffees, which are often our most sustainably sourced coffees.
We are looking at ways to improve all of our coffee packaging, while still maintaining the freshness and quality that consumers have come to expect from Green Mountain Coffee Roasters. We have made some strides in this area. In June of last year, we launched the first all-natural hot beverage paper cups. This revolutionary eco-friendly cup is lined with a bio-plastic made from corn, making it the only hot beverage cup made from fully renewable materials.
We are making progress and are working to continue to bring new, more sustainable solutions to the market. We appreciate your ongoing support of our coffees and our company, which allows us to explore and invest in creative answers to these environmental challenges.
July 24th, 2008 at 8:45 am
We read through your post about environmental impact of the K-Cup portion pack and want to respond to your concerns.
Packaging is an area of major environmental concern for all consumer product companies and we understand that the impact of the K-Cup waste stream is one of Green Mountain Coffee’s 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 aren’t doing this to distract our consumers from the environmental issues – we believe there is a legitimate upside for Fair Trade. Because the single cup market is growing quickly, having Fair Trade Certified coffees in K-Cups exposes more people to 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 do address this issue on our Corporate Social Responsibility website at:
http://tinyurl.com/5p3fqw
Editor: URL was too long, I shortened it using TinyURL.com
We’ll keep this site updated as we make progress on this issue.
Mike Dupee
VP, Corporate Social Responsibility
Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc.
July 24th, 2008 at 8:54 am
Heather,
Thank you for posting that memo. It’s good to see the company is looking into the options, though I wish the problem would never have had to have been addressed.
I appreciate the transparency.
July 24th, 2008 at 9:06 am
Michael,
Thank you for the personal response. I’ve posted your remarks on another post on the homepage. You can read it here:
http://swye.net/2008/07/24/green-mountain-coffee-responds-again/