I’m a coffee lover and for me, nothing quite beats a barista style cup in the comfort of my kitchen from one of the best coffee machines. Day to day, I use a cafetière with ground coffee, but the one thing that puts me off switching to a machine? The plastic and waste involved. Of course, you can opt for a bean to cup machine that grinds whole coffee beans into a puck to be brewed. But the best models can fetch more than £500, whereas the price and convenience of a pod machine is unmatched.
Like many, I’ve been trying to reduce my exposure to microplastics by switching to metal food containers, using a coffee cup for takeaway coffees and buying plastic-free tea bags. According to Stanford University, studies have linked exposure to microplastics to biological changes like inflammation, impaired immune system, cell damage. Traditional pod machines, however, sometimes use plastic casing, potentially increasing the exposure to microplastics in the brewing process. Disposing of coffee pods can be tricky too, as they can’t be placed in your household recycling and require special recycling bags.
