Coffee. It’s a powerful potion used by folks around the world at the beginning of each day.
I’m writing a book about morning rituals and how they can help us start the day on the best foot possible. I’ve been interviewing people over the past couple of years about what they do each morning. Coffee is a common theme.
One of the most fascinating – and hilarious – coffee-related morning rituals I’ve come across so far was the guy for whom his morning java has become the trigger for his morning bowel movement. This ritual has developed for him to the point that now upon waking, the first thing he thinks of is his café – he doesn’t even have to grind it, brew it, drink it, or even smell it – and he feels the urge to eliminate.
Incredible, the power of the mind – and coffee!
Why go plastic-free with your coffee?
We’ve not yet come across an electric drip coffee maker that does not involve plastic touching the hot water used for brewing. And we know that plastic and hot water are not good combinations because the heat can increase the leaching of toxic chemicals from the plastic.
The ubiquitous disposable plastic coffee pods – such as the K-Cup – are a plastic scourge. The amount of them used annually when placed end-to-end is estimated to be enough to circle the globe 10.5 times. And most end up in landfills. While some recyclable and reusable options are appearing, most are still made of plastic and aluminum. Do you really want to be drinking your morning espresso – or tea for that matter – that was brewed at a super high temperature in a tiny plastic cup?
So there are lots of reasons to avoid the K-Cup. Fortunately, the trend may have peaked and be waning. The city of Hamburg, Germany recently banned plastic coffee pods. The anti-K-Cup movement has been spurred on by a video called “Kill the K-Cup“, which went viral and spawned the popular hashtag #killthekcup:
If you have a pod coffee maker and are now feeling super guilty after watching that video, don’t despair. Sustainable alternatives to plastic disposable coffee pods do exist for pod machines, and we now carry one! A reusable Stainless Steel Coffee Filter Pod eliminates the need to buy pods completely (you just need to make sure it’s compatible with your machine). Fill it up with with your favorite java and you’re good to go. And if you’re worried about sediment residue in your coffee, then you can use Biodegradable Paper Filters in the stainless steel reusable pod.
How to go plastic-free with your morning ritual coffee
I’m not a regular java drinker myself. My body system seems to be pretty sensitive to the stuff. Even decaf wires me. So I tend to opt for tea, especially later in the day. But when I do have coffee I really enjoy it. And when I do have coffee, I want it to be high quality and well brewed.
There are simple and elegant plastic-free options for making a fabulous cuppa joe – in the morning or at any time of day or night.
Chantal lives by her morning coffee ritual, and cherishes it. We have a variety of coffee creation mechanisms and accessories that we use depending on the type of coffee we want and the time we have available to make it. One of them is a little espresso machine with a milk frother, but frankly, it has been getting minimal use lately as Chantal is heavy into a drip-coffee phase.
A perennial favorite is the funky Chemex line of products we have carried for years. High quality borosilicate glass. Filters made of unbleached paper are available, and we also carry locally-made hemp reusable ones.
We recently added some high end Hario Japanese coffee-making tools to our product line. And the system Chantal is most enamoured by lately involves the Hario ceramic one-cup dripper paired up with the one-cup glass and olive wood server.
Unbleached, FSC-certified paper filters are available for the dripper, and work like a charm.
If you want to go all out, consider the Hario Buono Pouring Kettle below. For me, the curve of that spout is so stunning. It conjures up images of Byzantium mosaics and sacred jamocha rituals, apart from ensuring smooth precise pouring with easy control of speed and coverage. You won’t find a transparent plastic window on this beauty.
Great coffee can also be made with items you have around the house! Here is a neat blog post from Little Coffee Place that lays out five different ways to make your morning brew without plastic!
Store and transport your coffee without plastic
Storing your coffee to keep it fresh is as important as brewing it well. Our friend and local coffee purveyor, Anne Winship, owner of delightful Bean Fair Coffee, recommends storing the beans in a non-plastic airtight container and leaving them on your counter – not in the fridge – to maintain maximum freshness and aroma. 
Our round airtight stainless steel containers work beautifully for this purpose and come in 11 different sizes. So even if you have 5 kilos or 10 pounds of beans to store, we’ve got a container for you!
If you’re taking your mocacchino on the go, we have plenty of options, ranging from glass tumblers to stainless steel Klean Kanteen insulated thermoses, which can be turned into mugs with a café cap. They keep beverages literally steaming hot for hours.
So if coffee is part of your morning ritual, yes, it is possible to enjoy that daybreak java without plastic. And good quality fresh ground coffee lovingly made in a drip device will trounce plastic K-Cup pods for taste and sustainability any and every day.
By Jay Sinha
Co-Founder & Co-Owner