Wasteful products...
- Thread starter Warped9
- Start date
I've seen these K-Cup coffee-makers and even got one for my brother for Christmas, he's been wanting one for a while now. I'm not one to worry too much about "wastefulness" of stuff when it comes to landfill space. It take several hundreds of billions of those K-Cup things to make any impact on landfill space and I suspect the cup is made of some mildly biodegradable plastic. It seemed pretty thin and flimsy and not quite the "lasts forever" stuff.
Anyway, I was a bit surprised that the coffee from the K-Cup seemed to only be good for one good, strong, cup of coffee. We tried doing a second cup and the second cup didn't come out tasting quite as strong as the first cup, surprising considering the amount of coffee in the K-Cup seemed to a pretty good amount, sufficient for more than one cup of coffee.
Anyway, I believe an insert can be purchased for these machines where one can fill it in with their own coffee grounds and save on the expense of the K-Cups and reduce any landfill concerns one may have. I've no idea if the quantity of coffee one can get from using one's own grounds is any higher.
Anyway, the machine made pretty good tasting coffee and I liked the convenience of it.
EDIT -
Reading more of the thread it seems the chief complaint of the OP is the "wastefulness" of the plastic K-Cup. Which... Really? These things are tiny, very compressible and I don't see how they'd make any meaningful impact on landfill space. Studies have shown a landfill just 100 miles square would be sufficient enough to satisfy our needs for over a century. Landfill concerns are hardly a big one, and do not see a big concern in this area. Would it be nice if the K-Cup was biodegradable (which I'm sure a wax-coated paper would work)? Sure. But I don't think it being made out of a thin plastic is going to have a huge impact on the environment or landfill space.
It might be wasteful in terms of how much coffee you get out of each cup (one good cup of coffee and maybe an okay second cup) but I don't know enough about coffee and how it's made/brewed to best effectiveness with how much grounds. I also sort-of wish the single-serving thing would make coffee from, say, a handful of whole beans considering coffee from whole beans is better than coffee from grounds.
But, I may get my own K-Cup thingie and start drinking coffee. The thing is quick and easy and makes good coffee.
Anyway, I was a bit surprised that the coffee from the K-Cup seemed to only be good for one good, strong, cup of coffee. We tried doing a second cup and the second cup didn't come out tasting quite as strong as the first cup, surprising considering the amount of coffee in the K-Cup seemed to a pretty good amount, sufficient for more than one cup of coffee.
Anyway, I believe an insert can be purchased for these machines where one can fill it in with their own coffee grounds and save on the expense of the K-Cups and reduce any landfill concerns one may have. I've no idea if the quantity of coffee one can get from using one's own grounds is any higher.
Anyway, the machine made pretty good tasting coffee and I liked the convenience of it.
EDIT -
Reading more of the thread it seems the chief complaint of the OP is the "wastefulness" of the plastic K-Cup. Which... Really? These things are tiny, very compressible and I don't see how they'd make any meaningful impact on landfill space. Studies have shown a landfill just 100 miles square would be sufficient enough to satisfy our needs for over a century. Landfill concerns are hardly a big one, and do not see a big concern in this area. Would it be nice if the K-Cup was biodegradable (which I'm sure a wax-coated paper would work)? Sure. But I don't think it being made out of a thin plastic is going to have a huge impact on the environment or landfill space.
It might be wasteful in terms of how much coffee you get out of each cup (one good cup of coffee and maybe an okay second cup) but I don't know enough about coffee and how it's made/brewed to best effectiveness with how much grounds. I also sort-of wish the single-serving thing would make coffee from, say, a handful of whole beans considering coffee from whole beans is better than coffee from grounds.
But, I may get my own K-Cup thingie and start drinking coffee. The thing is quick and easy and makes good coffee.
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I hadn't thought about arthritis (etc.) in the hands. So let me rephrase: For most people, electric can openers are a waste of electricity.
And someone mentioned electric toothbrushes. I use one because it does a better job, not because it's more convenient.
And someone mentioned electric toothbrushes. I use one because it does a better job, not because it's more convenient.
Our tap water is reclaimed sewage, so yeah... there's a pretty strong yuck reaction, especially since there are significant amounts of anti-depressants and the contraceptive pill in.
As to wasteful things... we are on our 2nd washing machine in three years, and it looks like this one has had it now, so we could be 3 in 3 years soon! The inbuilt fail mechanisms in modern technology make you wonder what they want to do to the planet. One big garbage dump of the solar system all for the sake of the mighty dollar.
I also consider the low quality disposable clothes of the high street a terrible waste - some women I know get through mountains a year, and it all ends up in the bin because they have tired of it or it's falling apart.
Food waste, in homes and public eating places... so much food ends up in the bin - people over-filling their plates and not finishing, then throwing it in the bin without a care that an animal/plant had to beraised and fed for god knows how long before it ended up on your plate in order to feed and nourish you, the least you can do is treat that food with respect. I wonder if these people had raised the food themselves, if they would treat it with so little courtesy.
Mobile phones as well, I consider to be a waste, if it's not faulty, why change it? Fashion? Ego? My phone is 2 years old - the battery is giving way, but otherwise it works perfectly and not a single scratch on it, meets all my needs more than adequately. When I took it to the retailer, I was told they will dispose of my phone and replace it with a new one (for a price of course), since they don't bother with things like changing batteries. Seriously?
Then there are some shops like Abercrombie and Fitch, who destroy the clothes that are not sold, since they don't want to drive down their prices, or have people who paid less than full price wearing them. Boggles the mind.
I'll stop there, or we'll be here all night.
As to wasteful things... we are on our 2nd washing machine in three years, and it looks like this one has had it now, so we could be 3 in 3 years soon! The inbuilt fail mechanisms in modern technology make you wonder what they want to do to the planet. One big garbage dump of the solar system all for the sake of the mighty dollar.
I also consider the low quality disposable clothes of the high street a terrible waste - some women I know get through mountains a year, and it all ends up in the bin because they have tired of it or it's falling apart.
Food waste, in homes and public eating places... so much food ends up in the bin - people over-filling their plates and not finishing, then throwing it in the bin without a care that an animal/plant had to beraised and fed for god knows how long before it ended up on your plate in order to feed and nourish you, the least you can do is treat that food with respect. I wonder if these people had raised the food themselves, if they would treat it with so little courtesy.
Mobile phones as well, I consider to be a waste, if it's not faulty, why change it? Fashion? Ego? My phone is 2 years old - the battery is giving way, but otherwise it works perfectly and not a single scratch on it, meets all my needs more than adequately. When I took it to the retailer, I was told they will dispose of my phone and replace it with a new one (for a price of course), since they don't bother with things like changing batteries. Seriously?
Then there are some shops like Abercrombie and Fitch, who destroy the clothes that are not sold, since they don't want to drive down their prices, or have people who paid less than full price wearing them. Boggles the mind.
I'll stop there, or we'll be here all night.
What I do with my food after I buy it is my business. It's probably going to be biodegradable anyway. Most of my leftovers go to my dogs, but still...
I know most restaurants or companies won't donate food to the homeless or to shelters or anything because they're afraid someone will get sick and turn right around and sue them.
I still don't see how an electric can opener can be considered wasteful. Are microwaves and ovens therefore wasteful? Are dishwashers wasteful? They're all things that are convenient. I don't have the patience to beat open my cans of food with rocks and cook over an open fire every night knowing there are better and easier ways to do it. And if a can opener is going to impact your electric bill, you would probably have to leave it running all day every day.
As far as electric toothbrushes... I rarely have to change the single AA battery in mine and my teeth always feel much cleaner when I use it as opposed to using a normal one.
I know most restaurants or companies won't donate food to the homeless or to shelters or anything because they're afraid someone will get sick and turn right around and sue them.
I still don't see how an electric can opener can be considered wasteful. Are microwaves and ovens therefore wasteful? Are dishwashers wasteful? They're all things that are convenient. I don't have the patience to beat open my cans of food with rocks and cook over an open fire every night knowing there are better and easier ways to do it. And if a can opener is going to impact your electric bill, you would probably have to leave it running all day every day.
As far as electric toothbrushes... I rarely have to change the single AA battery in mine and my teeth always feel much cleaner when I use it as opposed to using a normal one.
^Oh, keep going, please. The part about A&F was new to me.
Manual can-openers have the distinct advantage of being something washable. Most people easily forget to wash their electric can-openers. Next time you're over at someone's home take a look at their electric can opener and give that a thought.
I love TrekBBS. 
We're having an intense discussion on can openers.
I have one that doesn't leave any sharp edges. It's kind of nice. I grew up with electric can openers so I just have no desire to use a handheld one.
We're having an intense discussion on can openers. I have one that doesn't leave any sharp edges. It's kind of nice. I grew up with electric can openers so I just have no desire to use a handheld one.
I grew up almost solidly with them but now I'm all manual (and, really, the frequency of pull-top cans is pretty low with the stuff I buy in cans) mostly for ease of use and cleanliness. Electric ones, as they tend to do the cut for soft-edges, got tougher to use on the fly. Manual can openers for me are just more fun.
...
That may be the most boring sentence ever.
No. THIS THREAD NEEDS MORE YELLING!!!
I eat lots of Van Camp's Chili... definitely no pull tabs on those... or any canned vegetables I occasionally buy.
Quick fact: The can-opener was invented nearly 100 years after the tin-can was invented for storing a preserving food.
This reminds me of a Penn & Teller: Bullshit episode.
Great fun.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfPAjUvvnIc
Love the spider in the bottom of the bottle gag.
I bought one after it was recommended by my dentist. At the time, I was having my teeth cleaned by the dental hygenist 3x a year. After buying a Sonicare, I'm now down to the regular twice a year. The toothbrush paid for itself within a year.
Sounds like you need to find a shop like Batteries Plus that sells nothing but batteries, or find a place like Short Circuit here that repairs old cell phones. Batteries for a cell phone should only cost you around $35 or so to replace. Heck, if you could find a new battery, you can do it yourself.
This reminds me of something on TV a few years ago. NBC was having their "Green Week" when their shows were all about being green. As a green promotion, they had the cast of Heroes plant a tree in New York and they showed it during the breaks. After they were done planting the tree, Hayden Panettiere proceeds to water the newly planted tree...with bottled water. Yep, she opened a fresh bottle of Evian or something to water the tree they planted to show how green they were.
I work in Food retail, and about 75% of cans are ring pull. Not saying that the case in other parts of the world, but in the UK unless it's tinned fish or a value line tin. Most are ring pull.
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