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My husband is the coffee drinker in this house, and since my Keurig review about a year ago, he has been a daily user. I have also tried various K-Cups for the machine, like lemonade, tea, and hot chocolate, which are some of my favorite drinks. With our machine being used multiple times daily, please don’t hate us. We have always pitched them in the garbage, not even thinking about recycling them!
Along comes Recycle A Cup, a new accessory for Keurig and other single-serve coffee systems that help to recycle K-Cups! This new device solves a problem that I never really thought about…a zillion wasteful used coffee cartridges that end up going in the trash and ultimately filling up landfills with unnecessary waste. With the Recycle A Cup, you can recycle, re-use, and compost most of the components of your used K-Cup cartridges instead of throwing them away!
K-Cups combine plastic, aluminum, organic material (coffee grounds), and a paper filter. While all items can be easily recycled separately, the K-Cup cannot. The components must be separated and sorted into the correct categories for recycling or composting. If you do nothing else, by cutting the plastic bottom off the K-Cup, you are exposing the organic material and allowing it to decompose in the landfills. You will be making a very positive impact on the environment.
There are several different K-Cup recycling options available. The K-Cup plastic is considered low-grade mixed flake resin that falls within the #5 through #7 resin ID range; you can check with your town’s recycling center to find out if they take cups of this plastic. You can also send the plastic cups to Medelco (the makers of Recycle A Cup) or search for a “Recycling Locator” at Earth 911.com.
If you can’t find a place to recycle the cup shells, there are lots of ways that you can reuse them at home, for arts and crafts, mini-pots for planting seeds, and for organizing small items like picture hangers, screws, paper clips, etc. Or try out some of these ideas:
- 1. Seed Starters. Fill the cup with potting soil, insert your favorite seed, and grow! If you’re growing different plants, be sure to label the cup.
- 2. Jell-O Shots. Cover the puncture hole at the bottom with tape and fill it with your favorite Jell-O shot!
- 3. Specialty Ice. Cover the puncture hole at the bottom with tape. Place fruits, herbs, or edible flowers in water and freeze for unique ice cubes. Instead of water, experiment with different liquids and colors, such as juice or clear soda.
- 4. Storage Bins. Decorate the body with markers, paint, or decorative paper. Place your rings, earrings, and other small items inside and organize them by design or color.
- 5. Goody Bins/Place-Cards. Insert snack-sized candy portions inside the cup, label names with marker, and place
If you want more ideas, check out K-Cup Crafts on Pinterest for tons of PINinspiration! What do you do with your K-Cups? Please leave me a comment and share your tips on how to reduce, reuse, and recycle!
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This is awesome. I have not gone to the “cups” because I don’t think throwing away so many cups is something I want to do. However, the convenience is nice. I will look into these reusable ones 🙂