used to live nexto a huge steel refinery and many mental diseases and cancers in the area are up more than 50% not to mention lots of birth defects etc.

maybe its effects are more local idk. Not sure how glass and ceramic are made.

ofc not bad to try and eliminate plastics but having 1 plastic free device that is overly expensive is really just a status thing. it contributes nexto nothing to environmental goals which i think eliminating plastics belongs to.

u can just put the grounds in a cup and pour hot water on it afterall. tastes fine.

Decades ago people were scared of radio waves and microwave ovens. Some still claim "electrosensitivity", and it's an entirely psychosomatic (placebo/nocebo) response.

2. If each person's individual impact is small, and I agree, then that cuts both ways. Whether I buy stainless steel items contributes next to nothing for/against people living near huge a steel refinery.

This sort of defeatism is why people don't try. Consumers can shift products through purchase behaviors. We're already seeing improvements in kitchen appliances and gear, cosmetics, some outdoor gear.

That being said i wish they were right. I pay a premium for organic and farmers market. As well as plastic free everything. It feels good to support those businesses, but they are still mostly just getting by.

Beyond lawsuits and regulations - I’ve personally seen what Europe is doing to deploy financial programs for transitions to, for example, regenerative farming. It really works. With the extra funds/financing, farms are able to plan 2-5 year payback instead 10+. The incentive alignment makes a huge difference.

You have to look at the demand side of the equation, because creating black markets isn’t a good idea, and neither is creating widespread resistance and discontent. Governments aren’t all powerful, so regulation has to focus on the stuff that’s most harmful and has the highest chance of success.

Coffee was enjoyed for hundreds of years before plastic was invented. The answer is not to get rid of the plastic, but get rid of the machine.

I don't, and this is just stupid virtue-signaling for the easily gullible hypochondriacs.

Plastics came from hydrocarbons, which make up the bulk of all living matter.

Short-chain hydrocarbons are quite reactive. But plastics are anything but short-chain, and "sentiment to eliminate plastic" just reads like the astoundingly tiring and misinformed idiotic "chemicals bad!!!1111" insanity of hypochrondriacs.

I still drink coffee regularly so am not going to say people should stop doing what I continue to do but it's worth it for coffee drinkers to be thoughtful about the impact of their consumption.

But also apparently producing one meal worth of chicken takes 700kg of water. Over 3000kg of water for beef. So I think, in comparison, coffee water use if negligible.

The overall issue is that coffee pod waste is de minimus compared to the environmental impact of the coffee industry at large.

"This machine used 99% less plastic over its lifetime, but it still uses some plastic, so why bother?"

"You say reducing plastic is good for the environment, but then you drink coffee which is bad for the environment, so you shouldn't bother even reducing plastic"

"EVs still use energy that's been generated from gas, even if its a lot less, so you might as well just drive a diesel powered pick up truck"

It's like stopping using aspirin because "drugs are bad" while doing meth every day

There's some people that care about no plastic at all anywhere (which... is pretty unrealistic considering water pipes are plastic), but usually the primary concern is plastic in the heated water portions. Water tanks on espresso machines are not typically heated.