Culture
Hamburg Says 'Nein' to Coffee Pods
The German city is believed to be the first in the world to ban the pods on environmental grounds.
In January, German fast-coffee addicts got bad news: as part of larger sustainable procurement guidelines, the northern city of Hamburg banned the purchase of coffee pods, and the single-serve machines that use them, for all government-run buildings, including offices, schools, and yes, even universities (where the need is most dire).
According to NPR, Hamburg’s Department for the Environment and Energy said the pods represent “unnecessary resource consumption and waste generation.” Fortunately, other varieties of coffee—the drip kind, for example—are still permitted under the guidelines.