Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2020/04/25/save-the-planet-with-a-coffee.html
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I initially misread compostable as combustible. Then I read again and was disappointed.
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Made from a patented bio-based polymer derived from renewable and sustainable sources like corn and potato starch
Never tried composting anything patented before. (At least, not intentionally.) Kinda skeptical that we could compost these, and we have some nontrivial biology going on out there.
these pods also release up to 75 percent less C02 during production when compared to aluminum.
Doesn’t aluminium take positively insane amounts of electricity to smelt? So one fourth the carbon footprint of a beer can would seem crazy high for a much smaller supposedly compostable bit of not-quite-plastic.
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Save the planet by consumption. Ugh
Howabout just making coffee from beans.
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Right? You don’t even need hot water; just bust the beans up real good and soak ’em in water for a day or two. WTF, everybody?
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Yeah. You can’t consume your way to ecological responsibility.
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You’re right, it’s basically electricity in solid form - but for that very reason refinement is mostly occuring in places which have exceptionally cheap electricity, which is mostly from hydro - (so little carbon impact per se). (source) (not sure if this holds in China, but they have also been scaling up their hydro capacity big time).
Responding to what is probably your larger point though. It has always struck me as strange that cans are considered more environmentally friendly than plastic - which if buried would represent carbon sequestration, (I know that’s not a good idea but strictly speaking it’s true). The right idea seems to me what they do in Germany with beer bottles, (and we used to with milk bottles in the states) - make them sturdy and reuse.
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The thing with aluminum and steel is, once they’re refined the energy it takes to recycle them is very low relative to the refining energy, and steel and aluminum can be recycled many times.
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That makes sense. Got me wondering which is more green - aluminum or glass, quick googling shows a melt point of 1200-1400 C for glass and 660 C for AL, (which presumably has a lower mass per container too). So that breaks in aluminum’s favor for reclamation by a fair amount.
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Yeah, but the thing with aluminum and even steel is that you get dross every time you re-melt. The heat and the oxygen atmosphere consumes some of the aluminum turning it into Aluminum Oxide which is essentially the ore again. So you either have losses over time, or you do spend some effort re-smelting. You don’t have that kind of reaction with silica glasses because they’re already fully oxidized as a final product.
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Which aluminum coffee pods are we comparing these to?
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this planet will be destroyed by convenience
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And you would be right, tucked at the bottom of their website is the disclaimer that these are compostable in commercial compost only. So your local authority has to accept bioplastic or you have to find another resource.
Added to which, if the coffee is being transported from Brazil, Guatemala and Ethiopia; roasted in Melbourne; and sent to consumers in the US those beans have already got quite a hefty footprint.
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It’s a evil plan to lay claim to your body as infringing a patent.
You compost the patented item
In the compost you grow veg which contain the patented item
You eat the veg and now your body contains the patented item
They litigate and profit - kerching!
/s because, yes I know their 'compostable ’ claims are hokum, true only on a technicality and that this would be true of many other thinks, like patented seeds too. But if Shkreli were out and in this sector it’s exactly the kind of shit he and his ilk would pull as part of their end-stage capitalist wank-fests.
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You can’t. Compostable plastics have to be dealt with in very specific composting facilities that are not available to the public (at least anywhere near me). Compostable plastics end up where every other form of single-use plastic does. Complete BS.
ETA: @timd beat me to it.
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Another issue with bottles is they are more fragile then aluminum, and they weigh a lot more then cans. So unless you have a close source for both manufacturing and reprocessing, they can end up having a fairly large foot print during all the required stages of shipping.
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I mean given how most coffee gets to the US, you can’t save the planet by drinking coffee anyway. Me using a Keurig pod or grinding the beans aren’t even measurably different compared to everything that happens up to that point.
You can still choose what happens after that point. A package with a crazy amount of packaging relative to the amount of product is still wasteful either way.
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