By LISA MITCHELL                                    

Who isn’t addicted to coffee pods these days?

Those little devices are everywhere, and it’s not hard to figure out why – we’re leading incredibly busy lives, and while it’s been fun buying and trying to figure out how to operate complicated coffee machines, who has the time?

Coffee pod machines save us time and money. But they can come with a price that many of us are only just becoming aware of.

I was shocked to read that used coffee pods are becoming a serious environmental concern.

Australians are now consuming between 2.5 and 3 million coffee capsules per day. All we want is to start our day with an excellent cup of coffee that is simple to make, and that doesn’t ruin our planet.

So far, they haven’t been recyclable so we’ve been placing them in with our general rubbish, without even a second thought given to the impact. In our defence, why would we think to worry? They are so small! I myself only drink two or three really good quality cups of coffee per day – surely three little pods per day won’t be enough to damage our environment?

Sadly, our new coffee habit is threatening to do exactly that and it’s only going to get worse, as more Australians begin to use coffee pods both at home and at work. Putting this into perspective, Australians are filling an Olympic-sized swimming pool with used capsules every 14 days. By 2018, we will be all be filling an Olympic-sized swimming pool every week.

 Just as an FYI, you should know that this post is sponsored by ecoCaffe. But all opinions expressed by the author are 100% authentic and written in their own words. 

Michael Scott from the EcoCaffe Company says many Australians and environmentalists are now just waking up to the potential harm. He says, “Coffee lovers are torn between a great tasting at home coffee experience on one hand, whilst creating mountains of rubbish on the other hand.  Aluminium and plastic coffee capsules are filling our landfill on a daily basis with some of them taking more than 500 years to biodegrade, if at all.”

He has even coined the phrase “Pod Stress”, meaning we are now feeling guilty about the effect our coffee pod use is having on our planet. Who wants to feel stressed and guilty about enjoying good coffee? I, for one, do not.

EcoCaffe.com.au is launching the Ethical Coffee Company range in Australia which is the world’s finest range of 100 per cent biodegradable coffee pods that are compatible with Nespresso* machines. Unlike other brands made of damaging plastic or aluminium, the Ethical Coffee Company capsule is made from vegetable fibre and starch which means it does degrade after use within just six months, as opposed to 500 years plus for other brands.

I don’t know about you but I certainly don’t want the planet paying the price for my love of coffee for in excess of 500 years.

The Ethical Coffee Company has spent nearly a decade researching and developing their product and you won’t believe just how delicious their coffee is. It is the best capsule coffee I have ever tasted and I can enjoy it guilt-free each day.

Particular attention has been paid to the quality of their blends using traditional roasting methods so you can truly say that their coffee is among the best you’ve ever tasted. All your guests will want to know what blend you are using and will be relieved to know that they can relax and enjoy their coffee with no stress and no guilt.

EcoCaffe launches online in Australia on 23^rd November 2014 to celebrate World Espresso Day.  Find out more at www.ecocaffe.com.au.

ecoCaffe is the exclusive distributor for Ethical Coffee Company in Australia, maker of the world’s best biodegradable, Nespresso® compatible* espresso capsule.  As the only coffee capsule certified to the highest standard for biodegradability, EN 13432, you can relax and enjoy true, fresh Italian espresso coffees knowing that you are also considering the environment. Learn more and shop today at  www.ecocaffe.com.au