Does single serve convenience have to be bad for the environment?
Our cultural shift toward sustainable sourced and packaged products.
The explosion of convenience food items, in particular, has put a massive strain on the environment with single serve beverages and snack packaging clogging up our ecosystems and wreaking havoc on the environment. The problem we face at the moment though is our addiction to choose single-serve convenience over the effects our choices have on the environment.
Without an adequate recycling plan, these items can wind up in a landfill. The sad fact is that every time you use a set of plastic cutlery, grab a sports drink from the petrol station or unwrap the plastic of a pre-packaged snack, you’re doing the environment a disservice.
But as a society, we are on the cusp of change. Through education and a cultural shift in attitudes towards our impact on the environment, we are seeing a pivot in the way companies address their effect on the environment. But we still have a long journey to go. Companies that are bending to the consumer’s addiction to single serve are a part of the problem, but the solution starts with you, the consumer.
Companies that are paving the way and contributing to these sustainable materials and packaging are gaining huge traction in a market usually dominated by the ‘mega’ companies. BioPak offers a range of biodegradable and recyclable coffee cups and takeaway packaging for cafe’s and restaurants, contributing to reducing the 1 billion cups Australians send to landfill each year.
Pod and Parcel Coffee Pods are working to provide a sustainable alternative to non-biodegradable coffee pods by creating a compostable pod that breaks down in approximately 180 days. The company is working to combat the 13,500 non-biodegradable coffee pod capsules that are being thrown into landfill every minute by providing an alternative to aluminium and plastic coffee capsules. Choosing items that are sustainable sourced and packaged will make a positive impact, reward the smaller companies that exchange profits over sustainability and force the larger companies to adapt to a sustainable supply chain.
If you’re looking to reduce your impact on the environment and use single serve convenience items responsibly here’s a few ways to reduce your consumption and waste:
• Refuse plastic water bottles — Australians spend over $385 million per year on bottled water even though our tap water is generally of the highest quality in the world. Bottled water creates plenty of CO2 pollution and discarded bottles wind up in a landfill to be left for hundreds of years. Use your own BPA-free reusable water bottle, save money and cut back on landfill.
• Purge single use coffee pods from your life — we all love Nespresso pods for our morning caffeine hit, but with Australians consuming around 3 million capsules a day, the non-compostable convenience item has a huge environmental effect. Switching to a pod that is biodegradable will make a huge impact.
• Dispose of your paper coffee cups properly — if you are going to grab a takeaway coffee each day you’ll wind up with hundreds of cups that are not eco-conscious. Take your own reusable mug to your cafe or find a coffee maker that uses biodegradable or recycled coffee cups and do your bit for the environment.
• Put your waste in the right bin — Make sure you put the recyclable packing in the recycling, compost your compostables and recycle your soft plastics. It takes 95 percent less energy to make a can from recycled aluminium than from virgin materials. By recycling your trash, you can contribute to lowering greenhouse gases.
We make nū pods from biodegradable and compostable materials, focusing on environmental impact as well as single-serve convenience. We’re passionate about our environment and leaving as minimal carbon footprint as possible and go above and beyond to seek out environmentally conscious options for all of our products.
Nū pods aim to change the way we feed our bodies. Your Nu-pods are meals served in single-serve, biodegradable pods. Find out how to consume a complete meal in seconds that is good for your health and the environment. Visit www.nupods.com today.
Originally published at nupods.com.
