Coffee lovers can ring in a more sustainable new year with the help of Nespresso coffee.
If being mindful about your consumption is one of your New Year’s resolutions then don’t let your coffee obsession stop you. With Nespresso, you can have your delicious cup of cappuccino without the guilt of contributing to unethical and unsustainable practices. Nespresso takes pride in its high-quality coffee by investing in agroforestry to ensure that coffee plants are developed with care.
To anyone who is looking to improve their lifestyle by making a more mindful impact on the environment, using coffee capsules may seem daunting and counterproductive. Using capsules or pods while wanting to live sustainably does sound flawed since these said capsules are the byproducts of your daily morning coffee, and after going through five to ten pods a week, you’ll soon realize that it may be a little too much. The good news, however, is that Nespresso has found a way to not only provide tasty cappuccinos at home but to also make each coffee capsule environment friendly.
Photo Credit: Nespresso
Nespresso capsules are made of aluminum which makes them ultimately 100% recyclable.
The aluminum capsules are intended to keep the coffee grounds free from oxygen, light and humidity (this is what makes it taste good!) and it is also meant to be recycled into drinking cans, bicycles, or new capsules. Recycling aluminum also only requires 95% less energy than producing new primary metals.
As for the coffee grounds, it is compostable and used as fertilizers in farming communities. Used coffee grounds could also be used to source energy. For example, in Switzerland, they use discarded coffee grounds to supply energy to the Henniez water boiling plant. They also use it to provide heat to the homes surrounding biogas plants, and then they are sent to farms for compost.
Photo Credit: Nespresso
The Three-Bag Recycling System
To further ensure a better and more mindful consumer experience for Nespresso customers, the company has set up easy ways to recycle its coffee capsules. To guarantee that each capsule is accounted for, Nespresso set up a three-bag recycling system in place worldwide (from Switzerland to Singapore!). Complimentary Nespresso recycling bags are included with every purchase. Customers can fill these bags with used capsules and drop them off at either the nearest Nespresso boutiques (black bag), Canada Post mailbox (red bag), or place them in the designated recycling bin (green bag). To learn more about Nespresso’s recycling initiatives, visit their website here.
“New Year, New Me” is what they say and while giving up caffeine sounds like an unattainable journey for many of us (we get it), perhaps approaching it with mindfulness is the next best thing.
Published by HOLR Magazine.