Old habits die hard, and if you’ve been following your local council’s recycling guide religiously for as long as I have, your morning caffeine hit might be a pretty depressing exercise. The coffee pods used in those single-serve machines have to go straight to landfill – don’t they? Well, as it turns out, not necessarily.
To promote their recycling program, Nespresso have decided to enter into a somewhat bizarre publicity arrangement with a Swedish entrepreneur. They’re making bikes.
Yes, that is a fully functioning bicycle, made of 300 coffee pods (and a few other things too). No, it’s not a piece of art or social commentary. And for the totally reasonable price of €1,290 (just over $2K AUD) you can own one. Sorry folks, but artisan upcycling doesn’t come cheap.
It’s all possible because of the material that Nespresso coffee capsules use: aluminium. Because of it’s non-degrading nature, and use in just about everything, it’s a super convenient material to recycle, and producing it from scratch expends loads of energy. Unfortunately, for Aldi plebs like me, most other brands use plastic for their pods, so it’s worth double checking before you turn up at your local pod dealer with a bunch of invalid garbage.
In the midst of Australia’s recycling crisis, using and re-using aluminium is one of the better things you can do, but it’s not the perfect solution. The process of sorting, cleaning, and smelting the metal is still energy intensive, and the Nespresso capsules join their competitors in the landfill for a long time. Besides it’s not like a voluntary program is going to make that problem disappear. Let’s be real, a lot of people can’t be bothered going to more effort than the yellow bin requires.
The criticism aimed at Nespresso for using the consuming public as a scapegoat makes this a sticky ethical situation, but all things considered, a bike is a better option than the bin.
Cycling also makes for a zero-emissions commute, so if you’re prepared to stump up the cash, you’d certainly be making a pretty rad statement as you breeze past your coworkers. No need to leave with a bitter taste in your mouth.
