A Vancouver-based company is making headlines for all the right reasons with a line of single-serve coffee pods designed to combat the massive popularity of the environmentally unfriendly K-Cups.
The original concept of single-serve coffee pods used in Keurig coffee machines, K-Cups are made of harmful plastic and, according to a report from Mother Jones, the number of K-Cups produced in 2013 alone was enough to wrap around the planet more than 10 times.
Knowing that K-Cups were generating such a negative impact on the environment, entrepreneur Darren Footz began the creation and design of the G-KUP.
“Simply put, I want to change the way the world consumes single serve coffee. The current waste created by K-Cups is unacceptable,” Footz wrote on the G-KUP website.
Business In Vancouver reports that G-KUP received a patent in February for what it claims is the world’s first 100% biodegradable and compostable single-serving coffee pod.
The pods are made from renewable materials and are completely compatible with all Keurig devices. G-KUPS are held together with a bamboo and sugar cane sleeve, with a biodegradable polymer lining that can withstand boiling water.
The company took to Instagram recently to demonstrate just how fast and easily the pods can break down into compost.
CTV News Vancouver reports scientists at UBC’s Composites Research Network are helping develop the G-KUP with federal grant money. The scientists are working diligently alongside the G-KUP staff to make sure the compostable pod doesn’t leach chemicals or sacrifice taste and quality of the coffee.
Footz also told Business in Vancouver the G-KUP pods should be ready to hit store shelves by the fall.