November 19th, 2008
Do One Thing: Use Reusable Coffee Filters.
Sure, the paper coffee filters are easier to deal with – you just toss them in the trash. But if you had a reusable filter, you could just compost the grounds and rinse out the filter – saving both money and space in the trash! There are many different size reusable, washable filters available for coffee makers, so see if they make one for yours. Many coffee makers come with them now, as our new Cuisinart one did. Besides, we think the coffee tastes better this way!
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- Reusable Coffee Cup Looks Like A Disposable.
- Do One Thing: Buy Organic, Free-Trade Coffee.
- Do One Thing: Clean Out The Lint Filter.
- Review & Giveaway: Reusable Bottles From ‘Liquid Bottles’.
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Hey! How about a French Press? No filter at all!
That will work too! However, they don’t make 12 cups a time.
It’s just these sorts of “small actions” that actually reap big dividends, in both money and a shift in your consciousness. I found when I started preserving food that it made me re-evaluate how much money I waste out of pure laziness. Preserving lemons takes no time at all in the fridge, last six months, and saves me $1/lemon in the winter time. Since I use lemons extensively in my cooking, I can save almost $100 in the winter doing this, one lemon at a time! And, I’ve found preserved lemons are TASTY!
I was just talking to my mother about this yesterday! She uses the throw away kind, even though we have a reusable one in the machine. She said that the reusable filter requires so much water to rinse it out (and get all the grounds out), that she feels it is more environmentally friendly to NOT use it, and to compost the grounds, and then throw away the used filter. She said “I’m more worried about us running out of usable water than running out of landfill space.” What do you think of this? Do they make filters that are compostable?
If she is already washing dishes, then the extra 5 seconds it takes to rinse out the reusable filter won’t make any difference. And then she also reduces the trash AND doesn’t have to spend money on more filters. You should ask her if she should use paper plates instead of washable ones because of the water waste…