We are proponents that if you brew your own coffee you will save a lot of money each year. We also like to add our coffee rinds to our kitchen compost. Thing is, when you dump just the grinds into the compost they end up covering the inside of the compost bin. We buy bleach free coffee filter packs so we can add the coffee filter pack directly to the compost bin. They work the same way as non-green filters – the only real difference is that they are brown in colour.
The other option is reusable filters: you can find a “gold filter” in most stores; it’s a metal filter that does a good job of filtering out all but the finest grounds of coffee. There are also cloth filters that can be rinsed and used over and over again; I bought a couple of those in the early 1990s and have been using them ever since.
And then there’s French Press, which of course uses no filters at all, although you do generally get some grounds in the bottom of your cup.
All great ideas brad. I think I should look into these and just deal with the messy kitchen compost.
I use a french press so we are filter free. The presses work great if you are only making coffee for one or two people. Plus the coffee has great flavour.
I should look into this but I have come to rely on my programmable machine. I am the only coffee drinker ….
I compost as well but with tea bags, but now you have me wondering if my tea bags are bleach free.
Nice blog !
Mrs. SPF drinks a lot of tea but she uses loose leaf tea instead of bagged tea. She gets some pretty awesome flavours! She uses this little metal contraption that looks like 2 spoons that face each other but seal up. There are holes in the surface to let the water in to get at the yummy tea.
Thanks for the compliment on our site! Feel free to subscribe! :)
@Alan — you can also do away with tea bags (and have MUCH better tasting tea) by buying full-leaf tea and using a mesh brew strainer or one of those metal tea balls. The tea in tea bags is generally powder or close to it; with full-leaf tea you get a more complex flavour; it’s worth trying to see the difference. Plus there’s no bag, string, or tag to compost or throw away; you just empty out the strainer or tea ball and put the leaves in the compost.
You can get leaf tea at any tea shop and even some grocery stores; our tea shop lets you bring back your empty resealable bag for a supply of tea leaves and they’ll refill it for you, giving you a small discount for using your own bag. This is definitely the “greenest” way to go.
Agreed Brad. Much better tea and there is also the reduction in the production and packaging of tea bags to consider too.
Our coffeemaker has a reusable metal/mesh filter so we don’t have to buy paper ones anymore. Saves more in the long run.