Recyclable K-Cups Brands Worth Their Salt – Have You Tried These Yet?

Recyclable K-Cups Brands – Have You Tried These Yet?

For those of you still on the hunt for those elusive kcup pods that you can recycle without having to resort to tools or trials, I may have some good -or great-news for you!

Things can evolve pretty quickly in the k-cup world and not only do new brands come along but new designs too! And it seems like we are moving ever closer to that kcup with fully recyclable components!

I recently got to try a couple new recyclable k cups brands which I will happily spill the beans about. There are other brands too out which have a similar design. Which means progress is coming – slow, but sure!

I Got Some Biodegradable Coffee Pods For My Keurig!

I’m shopping for more k-cups usually at a rate of once a week…so I am used to poring over many selections…various brands, flavors, prices, the whole nine yards. When a brand goes on sale ($7/box of 12 is cheap where I live) and if it’s my favorite genre – the dark roast variety – I put that sucker in my cart.

I visited a rather obscure name supermarket one evening and the selection of kcups was a little limited when compared to a more big-name place and I found these rather unusual boxes with some funky-eyed animals on them – lizards, bunnies, etc. They were on sale and what probably drew me in was the funny critters. But the package showed the pods having a very unusual acorn-like shape to them .

Wow, that’s different, I was thinking – So these are not made of plastic? It did say on the box it would be compatible with my Keurig brewer so I decided to give them a shot. By the way, the brand is Wide Awake Coffee (hence the animals on the front with wide eyes, lol)

How Do Biodegradable Pods Work?

These puppies actually come wrapped in a cellophane package – which I presume, is to preserve their freshness, since they don’t have that plastic cup outer layer to them. Yep, these are actually mesh with a foil freshness lid… a pod that will be good to the environment :).

Now we know the bottom is not going to get pierced for the obvious reason, so I wondered how well they would work. As it turned out, my first brewing experience worked out great!

I believe the premise of the design itself was to have a coffee pod that could ultimately break down naturally, if you are someone into composting.

Wide Awake Coffee Seattle Style Dark Single Serve CupsWide Awake Coffee, 12 K-cups, Variety Pack (Pack of 4)Wide Awake Coffee, Donut Shop Blend K-cups, 36 Single Serve Cups

I put used coffee grounds in my flower pots – from what I have heard, used coffee grounds are very good for plants – it helps enrich the soil quality.

One negative here – at the time of writing I’m seeing a higher price on Wide Awake Coffee pods than what I discovered at the grocery store. Also, they may not be able to retain their freshness if they are displayed out in the open on the carousel so you may have to keep them in the plastic/cellophane bag.

Check These Out Too – A Fully Recyclable K-Cup!

We got a new Aldi’s in town which carries a lot of obscure brands as you may know. But great prices on K-cup pods, no doubt. This brand here caught my eye – Barissimo Fair Trade Certified.

While the taste did meet my criteria, let’s get to the part you want to know about the most – the packaging. It is very different from your standard K-cup. It is made from no. 6 materials as per the box and if you look at the bottom, you will see the recycle symbol and the respective no. 6.

The pods are see-through in which case you can get a glimpse of the coffee grounds.

The lid is a clear plastic and the box packaging shows something that looks like an “x” over the recycle symbol indicating that this is the one exception. What do people do with their lids, I wonder? Now here’s where it gets interesting.

I like the coffee itself; my one beef with these is that the lids, being plastic – when the needle punches it it feels like it takes more of a hard push than foil does, so I started using a pushpin to pre-start a tiny hole in the center.

Barissimo Two-Pack Salted Caramel Arabica Coffee K-Cup Compatible Single Serve Pods 2Laughing Man Hugh Jackman Single-Serve Fair Trade Keurig Recyclable K-Cup Arabica CoffeeGlorybrew – 100% Compostable K Cups Alternative Coffee Pods for Keurig Brewers,

How You Can Recycle These New Pods

After the spent pod has cooled enough to be handled then you can peel off the lid. I wish these things had some kind of little pull tab on them – it would make it easier. I don’t have the greatest fingernails out there 😛 But somehow it did give way….

There were all these white fibers fused on that had to be broken up as I separated the lid from the cup – but there you have it.

In which case you are left with the mesh part holding the used grounds which you can then compost your way, and the little clear plastic #6 cups can be saved to take to your nearest recycling center. Now until I manage to locate one, I’m going to hang onto these…

I feel like there can be some good uses for these otherwise…maybe I will use them as molds for bath fizzies or something, who knows.

Yeah, if it weren’t for that little tiny hole that gets punched in the bottom, these would be great to use as little dipping sauce cups or something.

So how do you feel about where the pod direction is going? What do you think about these new developments coming along with new materials and new designs with K-cups?

Oh, and what would you do with the lids – that’s a tricky part 🙂