K Cup Regret: Environmental Issues Cause K Cup Creator To Regret His Idea

The inventor of the K Cup has a serious regret about his insanely great idea; the idea itself. According to ABC 6, John Sylvan has said that he has some bad feelings about his creation, which has changed everyday life for so many people. You see, he is quite concerned about the impact the K Cups have on the environment. Millions of people are using the cups to brew coffee, and then, throwing them into the trash. And there isn’t much that Sylvan can do about it now. He sold the company in 1997 for $50,000 (yes, only $50,000).

“I feel bad sometimes that I ever did it. I told them how to improve it, but they don’t want to listen,” Sylvan said.

The K Cup regret is making headline news this week. According to Fox 28, pod-based coffee machines are used in one in three homes in the country, which is pretty significant. The solution to keeping these cups out of the garbage (for the most part) is to make them all recyclable or reusable. Sylvan says that he has tested out a reusable K Cup in the past, and that it worked fine for him. Keurig, the company that now owns the K Cup, made sure that their beverage brewers are not compatible with this type of cup (just in case anyone decided to get handy and create their own).

However, Keurig has vowed to do something about this over the next couple of years.

“[Keuring is] committed to making 100% of K-Cup packs recyclable by 2020.”

The K Cup regret is certainly something to think about, even if it is something most people have never considered. Because of the design of the cup, all parts are not able to be broken down. As previously reported by the Inquisitr, millions of these little cups are tossed in the trash this year — and that’s significant when you think about it.

“This inability to be completely recycled has given rise to concern from individuals who feel the construction of the Cup is wasteful. It is likely that such concerns are only amplified when, according to the the Atlantic, there were enough K Cups sold in 2014 to wrap around the earth 10.5 times.”

If Keurig takes steps to make the K Cup completely recyclable as they claim they are doing, chances are that Mr. Sylvan will feel a lot better about his invention. However, thinking about the damage that has already been done is still upsetting. The K Cup has already been around for well over a decade.

[Photo by Sergi Alexander/Getty Images]