# K-cup Seed Starter



## jebatty (Mar 21, 2016)

All those K-cups hitting the trash ... ugh! Turn them into seed starters. Cut the top off, pull out the paper filter insert with the coffee, add some starter soil, plant when sprouted. Hole in the bottom provides drainage.


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## Babaganoosh (Mar 21, 2016)

Amazing that those cups aren't recyclable or biodegradable. 

Good tip.


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## begreen (Mar 21, 2016)

K-cups are a serious blight on the planet. Even the inventor regrets making them. It's good that you are finding a meaningful use for them.


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## iamlucky13 (Mar 21, 2016)

Not bad, but an even better idea if you want to reduce waste with almost no reduction in convenience (maybe 5 seconds to measure out tablespoon or two of grounds?): Reusable single serve cups.

If you got tricked into buying one of the malfunctional "Kuerig 2.0's", there's ways to get 3rd party reusable cups to work with them.

Bonus feature: instead of paying $28.50/pound ($11.99 for 16 x 0.42 oz. cups at Target), you pay typically ~$10/pound, and you have more choices of beans/grounds.

Savings per year at one cup per day: $177.

Amount you have to value your time before that 5 seconds of lost time is worth more than the money saved: $350 / hour.


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## iamlucky13 (Mar 21, 2016)

I do have to point out, however, the significance of the K-cup waste volume is probably slightly exaggerated. The plastic-coated foil bags most gourmet coffee is sold in are also non-recyclable and non-compostable. A 12 ounce bag has the same amount of coffee as ~29 K-cups. There's fewer square inches of material in the bag than in 29 K-cups, but it's a thicker material. I wouldn't be surprised if these bags comprise at least half as much material per volume of coffee as a K-cup.

I guess if somebody wanted to quantify the difference and they have a decent kitchen scale, they could measure an empty coffee bag and some empty K-cups to compare.


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## jb6l6gc (Mar 21, 2016)

I Just use plastic tubs. Not only are they recyclable but make great containers for various things like fasteners in my garage!

After my first two keurigs crapped out after just more than a yr each I decided to go back to the good old fashioned coffee pot.


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## begreen (Mar 21, 2016)

We get our coffee in bulk. It goes into a lined paper bag that we reuse when we get more and that is emptied into a recycled Trader Joes cardboard coffee cylinder can.


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## jebatty (Mar 22, 2016)

I'm not promoting K-cups. I also use the fillable and reusable cups, my wife does not. Just an idea on a way to make a piece of trash reusable.


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## Highbeam (Mar 22, 2016)

Kcups are awesome. I am currently within walking distance of the factory and manage to acquire cases of them for free. Currently sipping on a 16 oz fill of Italian roast, black.

At home I only have a drip coffee maker and folgers decaf grounds. Washable filter. Drinking this fancy Kcup coffee has been enlightening, I can't make such a good cup at home.

The waste. Yes, a problem. Same with water bottle waste, milk jugs, oil jugs, etc.


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## sportbikerider78 (Mar 22, 2016)

Why can't you gut the contents and toss them in the recycle bin?


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## iamlucky13 (Mar 22, 2016)

sportbikerider78 said:


> Why can't you gut the contents and toss them in the recycle bin?



In theory you can, but the recycling value of each cup is so small the effort is of debatable value. Also many recyclers have problems with small items clogging their sorting machines, which is why it is common for them to ask customers not to include lids in the recycling.

I think a fully compostable K-cup would be a better goal. I'm pretty sure there's some third party compostable cups on the market, but I have no idea if they actually keep the grounds as fresh as the plastic cups with foil lids.

Interestingly, I just did a search for "recycle K-cup" to see if anybody actually does this, and apparently somebody makes a dedicated cutter that trims the top off exactly like jebatty did, and they claim you can put both the plastic and the foil in the recycling.
https://www.recycleacup.com/how-it-works/


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## BrotherBart (Mar 22, 2016)

http://www.parenthacks.com/2013/03/ice-cream-cones-as-seedling-starter-cups.html


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## begreen (Mar 22, 2016)

My understanding is that the plastic currently used in KCup pods is not recyclable. Keurig says they hope to have changed their plastic to polypropylene #5 in four years.
http://www.keuriggreenmountain.com/...roducts/OurProducts/ReducingProductWaste.aspx

In-depth look at the world of the KCup and all things Keurig.
http://www.theatlantic.com/technolo...-k-cup-coffee-pod-environment-problem/386501/


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## iamlucky13 (Mar 23, 2016)

From the Atlantic article:


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## begreen (Mar 23, 2016)

We're approaching the point where there will be more plastic in the oceans than there are fish. The less we employ one-use plastics in our lives the better. Our kids and grandkids deserve better.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...ic-than-fish-in-the-worlds-oceans-study-says/


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## sportbikerider78 (Mar 24, 2016)

Approaching 2050?  Wow.  That is sure a stretch.  I love how a snapshot in time is grabbed to set off the environmental alarms.  

It's good to extrapolate data, but come on...so much changes in the materials/plastics industries that we have no idea what we will be using 20 years from now, let alone 34 years.  

The problem with plastic in our waterways is that people are trashy!  People need to stop trashing the areas they live.  Urban areas seem to be the worst.  Not one piece of trash on the road where I live, past the burbs.


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## begreen (Mar 24, 2016)

Dismissing the message doesn't change the current situation or rate of increase. It's also possible they have underestimated human disregard for living in their own swill. 
_
According to the report, worldwide use of plastic has increased 20-fold in the past 50 years, and it is expected to double again in the next 20 years. By 2050, we’ll be making more than three times as much plastic stuff as we did in 2014._

The majority of plastics in the water come from Asia as they crave the products of western culture but have little sanitation infrastructure to cope with the inundation of plastic packaging and bottles. But per capita, the US is among the worst per capita plastics consumption. A lot of this is at the convenience of bottling companies like Pepsico and Coca Cola. We need cradle to grave ownership here of materials used in manufacturing to stem the tide of single-use plastics. The burden should be on the producer and not the taxpayer for landfilling and cleanup.


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## Highbeam (Mar 24, 2016)

begreen said:


> _According to the report, worldwide use of plastic has increased 20-fold in the past 50 years, and it is expected to double again in the next 20 years. By 2050, we’ll be making more than three times as much plastic stuff as we did in 2014._



You can do the math but by this quote it looks like our rate of increase is slowing significantly. Wow, pat on the back?


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## begreen (Mar 24, 2016)

Different time period. Doubling in 20 yrs which will still be 40x 70 yrs ago. At some point there will be a decline and end. The question is end of what?


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## sportbikerider78 (Mar 24, 2016)

I don't really see how plastic consumption is an issue...as long as you are not being irresponsible with the waste. 

Recycling is a good thing, but you also have to consider the total energy spent to gather, sort, clean, grind, process and then transport to be used again.  In many cases, you're likely better off just grinding it up and putting it in the landfill.  Or burning it in a controlled environment.


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## begreen (Mar 25, 2016)

That is the issue. Mankind has shown itself to be selfish and quite irresponsible. It's not better to grind up and put in to a landfill. It is better to design and employ recyclable plastics and stop putting more stuff into the waste stream that will not degrade, all at the expense of the taxpayer. Germany has had a cradle to grave laws for decades now and the difference in waste reduction is very large. We can and must do better. A lot of our plastics consumption is a manufactured demand and unnecessary. KCups and bottled water are the poster children. Net result - look around the world.

http://www.fair-fish.ch/blog/archive/2011/05/28/plastic-in-the-sea-from-water-we-drank.html


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## begreen (Mar 25, 2016)

Some thinking out of the box in India. 
http://www.thebetterindia.com/30465/edible-cutlery-in-india/


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## semipro (Mar 29, 2016)

iamlucky13 said:


> The plastic-coated foil bags most gourmet coffee is sold in are also non-recyclable and non-compostable.


Duh on my part.  We use refillable k-cups but recently upgraded from coffee in recyclable plastic containers to that in the bags.  I hadn't thought about the trade-off with the bags though I have looked for other ways to reuse them. Going to have to buy coffee in bulk like begreen does or go back to the recyclable plastic containers.


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## Willman (Mar 30, 2016)

I used to purchase a k cup alternative on Amazon for my mother. Coffee is suspended in  mesh bag. Lot less plastic. They were sued by green mountain over design and they won. Better value for sure. I get local roasted and ground coffee in high tech zip loc bags and reuse them for other things prior to disposal.


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## begreen (Mar 30, 2016)

Local roasted is a win-win situation. You're helping the local economy and have the option for bulk purchasing. We get local roasted and can bring our own bag.


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## jebatty (Mar 31, 2016)

A pix of the fillable and reusable k-type cup that I use.


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## begreen (Mar 31, 2016)

When I want a single cup of coffee this is what I use. Filter and coffee go into the compost. Great for camping too.
http://www.amazon.com/Melitta-Ready-Single-Coffee-Brewer/dp/B0014CVEH6


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## Highbeam (Apr 12, 2016)

begreen said:


> Local roasted is a win-win situation. You're helping the local economy and have the option for bulk purchasing. We get local roasted and can bring our own bag.



Green Mountain is a local roaster. I can almost smell the roasting occurring right now. They roast, grind, and then fill the plastic K-cups right here in the south Puget sound.


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## begreen (Apr 12, 2016)

Local is great but negated by the excess and unnecessary packaging. It's like having your local farmer pack a mouthful of cherries in lots of separate plastic packages.

Looks like the Sumner Green Mountain roasterie is mostly for the Tully brand coffee. Do they also pack Keurig packs there?


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## Lake Girl (Apr 12, 2016)

My daughter has a French press coffee maker ... bulk beans that she grinds and then brews


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## Highbeam (Apr 13, 2016)

begreen said:


> Looks like the Sumner Green Mountain roasterie is mostly for the Tully brand coffee. Do they also pack Keurig packs there?



Yes, they pack the k-cups in Sumner. The tully's brand is what I've acquired but I can't say whether they do others as well. I've had a factory tour and there are lots of specialized machines.

Dillanos is another Sumner roasterie. I even brought my kids to that factory which is way closer to what I think you would consider "local". Small batches, no k-cups. They big floor that they spread the green beans out on for cleaning is especially cool. They have a pile of all of the metal things like coins, nuts, chunks of metal, that have been pulled out of the sacks of beans before roasting.


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## begreen (Apr 13, 2016)

Lake Girl said:


> My daughter has a French press coffee maker ... bulk beans that she grinds and then brews


That is what we use too. Only one problem, unfiltered coffee raises my cholesterol due the the terpines in it (cafestol), so now I drink more tea than coffee.


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## Lake Girl (Apr 13, 2016)

Learned something new in relation to cholesterol & coffee... but sorry to hear.


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## Highbeam (Apr 14, 2016)

begreen said:


> That is what we use too. Only one problem, unfiltered coffee raises my cholesterol due the the terpines in it (cafesterol), so now I drink more tea than coffee.



On this cholesterol thing, must you use a paper filter to remove terpines? I use a wire mesh filter for my pot a day habit and I want to maintain a low cholesterol level. I ask because you could convince me to switch back to paper.


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## begreen (Apr 14, 2016)

A paper filter does much better than a wire mesh filter at trapping terpines, but even that is not perfect. There are several articles online. I found them after suddenly getting a dramatic drop in my cholesterol levels when I went a month without coffee or alcohol. A subsequent test a year later also was low, even though alcohol was back in the picture.

Your results may vary. I have genetically high cholesterol on both sides of the family so I am a poster child for statins. It doesn't take much to spike my numbers. I have tried everything and my diet is very good, no meat but lean chicken and fish, no hydrogenated fats, etc.. but even with good diet my numbers were only so-so till I dropped coffee. Bummer of it is, I love the stuff and it has good properties too.

http://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/what-is-it-about-coffee
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/06/070614162223.htm


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## Lake Girl (Apr 14, 2016)

I've heard of two uses of caffeine that I thought were interesting...  Daughter is a teacher currently subbing in our district.  For one child with ADHD, rather than prescribing Ritalin or similar for treatment, the child is on a coffee regime X number of times a day.  A little slow getting his coffee one day and she was able to see the change in behaviour 

A friend who suffers from migraine headaches was advised by her specialist to drink a cup of coffee along with her pain reliever.   Apparently a 40% increase in effectiveness when used in combination. http://www.webmd.com/migraines-headaches/guide/triggers-caffeine


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## Highbeam (Apr 14, 2016)

Lake Girl said:


> I've heard of two uses of caffeine that I thought were interesting...  Daughter is a teacher currently subbing in our district.  For one child with ADHD, rather than prescribing Ritalin or similar for treatment, the child is on a coffee regime X number of times a day.  A little slow getting his coffee one day and she was able to see the change in behaviour
> 
> A friend who suffers from migraine headaches was advised by her specialist to drink a cup of coffee along with her pain reliever.   Apparently a 40% increase in effectiveness when used in combination. http://www.webmd.com/migraines-headaches/guide/triggers-caffeine



I switch to 12 cups of decaf after my first cup of caffeinated coffee each day. Really don't like being dependent on the drug and a single cup of day is not so much to cause withdrawal symptoms for me.


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## begreen (Apr 14, 2016)

My wife is prone to getting headaches if she has no coffee. Excedrin is aspirin, acetaminophen, and caffeine.


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## iamlucky13 (Apr 14, 2016)

One of my brothers was even more hyper than the rest of us growing up, although never diagnosed with an attention or activity disorder. My parents gave coffee a try and it seemed to help. Caffeine is known to help not just with alertness, but also with concentration, and in people who are hyperactive, seems actually able to calm. The effect has even been studied in rats - rats with hyperactivity disorder (yes, they can have it, too) learn better when given coffee than without coffee, but rats without a hyperactivity disorder don't seem to show a difference.

If a person can function adequately with a coffee than with Ritalin, which has more complex and potentially more serious side effects (although like most approved medications, serious side effects are relatively rare), that seems like a good reason to try it first.

Coffee doesn't seem to help my headaches, but some headaches are related to low blood pressure, and coffee raises blood pressure.


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## Lake Girl (Apr 14, 2016)

iamlucky13 said:


> One of my brothers was even more hyper than the rest of us growing up, although never diagnosed with an attention or activity disorder. My parents gave coffee a try and it seemed to help.


Glad your folks were way ahead of the curve on ADHD research   I am not such a huge fan of Ritalin because they are finding structural brain changes with long-term follow up.  While medications can be life-saving, many side effects are only found in the larger clinical trial of being on the market.  I still see no information that radioactive iodine (I131 to treat hyperthyroid) can damage the parathyroids (calcium metabolism) long-term due to the radiation.  They are now finding 15-20 years later that it can result in hyperparathyroid... and many endocrinologists are unaware.  Just ask me how I know ... 3 of the 4 were bad

Sorry ... way off topic!


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## begreen (Apr 14, 2016)

Back to k-cups. What do they cost per cup of coffee? I just saw a local grocery store ad that had some @ 12 for $7.99!! Is that possible?


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## Lake Girl (Apr 14, 2016)

http://www.costco.ca/Tully’s-Italian-Roast-–-96-K-Cup-Pods-for-Keurig-Brewers.product.100179078.html

Most seem to be between $0.60/pod or $0.70/pod.  Would be one good reason not to get one...  Too many coffee drinkers in this house!


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## begreen (Apr 14, 2016)

Likewise.


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## jebatty (Apr 15, 2016)

Coffee, whether from k-cups or any other source, will remain an enjoyable part of my day.

If my memory is right, k-cups from Costco are in the $0.30-0.40 range. My wife and guests use those, I use refillables. I usually drink two 12-oz cups in the morning, the second being a re-use of the grounds from the first cup. I tend to sip on coffee more or less continuously during meetings. On driving trips I like to sip on coffee, maybe because I think it keeps me more alert, but I think my alertness has more to do with the physical action of picking up and setting down the coffee cup. At times I lose my taste for coffee and have none for days or weeks at a time, and I do not notice any effect at all from not having the coffee. Also, I rarely notice any hyper feeling from coffee.

As to cholesterol, I am active to very active in physical activity and my HDL always has been very high and LDL low, with triglyceride on the high side of the normal range, but total cholesterol above the normal range. My doctor says no concern due to the very high HDL. And in 2013 and after heavy training for my bicycle ride around Lake Superior, HDL shot up even higher, LDL went even lower, and triglyceride went down. Serious physical activity appears to have very positive impacts on keeping cholesterol low. Needless to say, I take no statins. 

For my age of nearly 69, the guidelines indicate my maximum heart rate is 151 and for exercise the target level for heart rate should not exceed 80% of that, or 121. At 121 I'm not even starting to work out, and a rate of 140-144 is very comfortable for an extended workout (1 hour and longer) with breathing not beginning to get a little labored until heart rate hits about 148. For psychological reasons mostly I think, I do not push my heart rate much above 155, and I am working pretty hard at that rate anyway.

As to perceived mal-effects vs benefits from coffee/caffeine, I listen to my body. That first cup of morning coffee, sun not up yet, everything quiet and peaceful, and writing stuff like this on Hearth.com, all means life is good. C-est la vie!


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## sportbikerider78 (Apr 15, 2016)

Without a strong cup at 6-7pm, I'd never make it to the gym at 8-9pm after the kiddos go to bed.  So for me, the coffee allows me to be healthier because I have the energy to workout.


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## Lake Girl (Apr 15, 2016)

begreen said:


> When I want a single cup of coffee this is what I use. Filter and coffee go into the compost. Great for camping too.
> http://www.amazon.com/Melitta-Ready-Single-Coffee-Brewer/dp/B0014CVEH6



Have you ever tried these for camping?  Hubby used to get them for the overnight canoe trips with the kids ...   Wondering if they would also trap the cafestol?  $0.22 each for the convenience and the Keurig won't work in that camping situation
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Maxwell-House-Instant-Bags-19-Ct-Coffee-Singles-3-oz/10292616


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## begreen (Apr 15, 2016)

No I haven't. We just pack some ground coffee and the Melita + some filters or tea bags which are lighter and simpler.


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## spirilis (Apr 21, 2016)

While you're at it, toss the spent coffee grounds into an Oyster mushroom patch to get more out of 'em...
(nice thing about spent coffee grounds is it's dead organic matter that's been heat & sometimes pressure-sterilized!)
http://www.treehugger.com/corporate-responsibility/growing-oyster-mushrooms-in-coffee-grounds.html


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## jebatty (Apr 22, 2016)

I use the single cup coffee "tea" bags on backpacking and bicycle road trips. Nothing better than waking up pre-dawn, firing up the alcohol stove to heat a cup of water to boiling, then two coffee bags to make a strong wake-up brew, and a walk to view sunrise. Weight is near zero. Enjoyment is near 100%.


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## ryanwc (May 5, 2016)

sportbikerider78 said:


> Approaching 2050?  Wow.  That is sure a stretch.  I love how a snapshot in time is grabbed to set off the environmental alarms.
> 
> It's good to extrapolate data, but come on...so much changes in the materials/plastics industries that we have no idea what we will be using 20 years from now, let alone 34 years.
> 
> The problem with plastic in our waterways is that people are trashy!  People need to stop trashing the areas they live.  Urban areas seem to be the worst.  Not one piece of trash on the road where I live, past the burbs.


That's interesting.  My experience is the opposite.  Per capita, rural areas are much worse for trash than urban or suburban areas.  Maybe that's just rural areas in Illinois and Indiana, where I tend to travel most.


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## Lake Girl (May 6, 2016)

ryanwc said:


> That's interesting.  My experience is the opposite.  Per capita, rural areas are much worse for trash than urban or suburban areas.  Maybe that's just rural areas in Illinois and Indiana, where I tend to travel most.


When I'm out walking the dog in the spring, I usually end up picking up trash along the road.  What I find is most of the trash is tossed by visitors to our area ... on the way up to the lake for fishing, hunting, vacationing that gets worse in the summer.  Beverage containers, snack food wrappers, etc.


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## begreen (May 6, 2016)

Same in our rural area. Most trash is dumped by outsiders and late-night revelers. We see McDonalds and Starbucks cups and those stores are nowhere near here.


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## iamlucky13 (May 6, 2016)

There's always empty beer cans and bottles mixed in among the fast food trash along the rode near my house. Apparently it's not drinking and *then* driving, but drinking *while* driving. I can fill a grocery bag at least once a year just walking to the corner. This is a side road in a semi-rural area. There's no reason to come down the road unless you live here or are visiting, so it seems to be people making a mess of their own neighborhood.

Every now and then, somebody dumps a mattress or dead appliance on an unbuilt property - Our brilliant county came up with a sure-fire way to encourage this: By weight, a mattress should be $3-5, but they charge $20.

But as far as K-cups go, I don't see any of those blowing around as litter. Inevitably, if you're using a K-cup, you're near a garbage can.


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