Don't Blame Green Mountain Coffee Roasters

One of Vermont's biggest employers and success stories is taking heat because one of its most popular products doesn't live up to the environmental standard the company generally strives to maintain.  Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (GMCR) has had a page on its web site discussing the environmental challenges of K-Cups for years.  The fact is, GMCR customers LOVE the company's Keurig one-cup coffee makers and the K-Cups that go in them.  GMCR's customers choose to use K-Cups rather than GMCR's more environmentally friendly "My K-Cup" alternative, which is a low-cost reusuable version of the K-CUp that the coffee lover fills with ground coffee for each individual cup.  I have first hand experience of this dynamic.  Is this GMCR's fault?  I don't think so.  I have first hand experience of this dynamic.  I have had a Keurig coffee machine at home for several years and it literally changed my life.  My husband must have his "high-test" coffee with lots of caffeine in the morning.  I love coffee but if I drink "high-test" it sends me to the moon on caffeine.  The Keurig allows us each to have the perfect cup without making two pots of coffee every day and pouring most of it down the drain after enjoying one or two cups of each.   I fill "My K-Cups" with ground coffee from GMCR for each cup of coffee and the used grounds go in the compost.  I rarely (can't say never) have a disposable K-Cup to toss out.  But apparently most people prefer to use the disposable K-Cups.   It's similar to how customers apparently rejected the biodegradable snack bag introduced by Sun Chips because it was too noisy.   Lots of customers chose a quiet snacking experience over environmental protection.  If Sun Chips insisted on continuing with the biodegradable bag despite falling sales, all they would do is drive sales to other non-biodegradable chip bags, not save our landfills.  Robust sales at GMCR is good for the economy and good for Vermont.  Yes, I think it would be better if more consumers would use the "My K-Cup" approach rather than disposable K-Cups.  But it probably is asking too much to expect companies like GMCR and Sun Chips to force environmentally conscious behavior on customers who really just want a cup of coffee and some chips.