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Coverage sponsored by the IHA

Solofill reusable filter cup slips into the Keurig machine

Last year, over 3 billion K-Cups were sold for Green Mountain Coffee's Keurig system and it's pretty reasonable to assume that the majority of these plastic and tinfoil single-use coffee pods have ended up in a landfill. It's clear that the ease of use and convenience of these single-use systems has created a booming industry—in fact, at this week's International Home + Housewares Show we counted at least four systems that were dishing up single-serving caffinated treats for bleary-eyed attendees. So what's a single-serve, coffee-loving person to do?

Although Keurig has created a similar product for their brewers called the My K-Cup, two new solutions for this coffee conundrum were presented by independent companies at this year's Home + Housewares Show. These reusable filters for the Keurig brewers both function in a similar way—fill your choice of coffee into the self-tamping pods, insert them into your Keurig machine and throw them into the dishwasher when you're done. Users are estimated to save over 50% on their coffee pod costs by filling their own pods.

Ekobrew, was recognized as part of the Going Green Display, and the founders proudly shared that their current batch of pods are made in the USA. The cone-shaped water disperser in the cap allows for a more even water flow throughout the pod. Ekobrew claims that the deep chamber provides 17% more volume for your coffee grounds. An innovation that the company introduced is the flat-bottom design for easy fill.

Solofill's extra-wide heavy duty hinge attaches a self-tamping lid to the body of the pod. At this year's Housewares show the company introduced their Decaflo-Plus Spray Head. The spray head consists of ten vertical inlets and a bottom inlet to evenly disperse hot water throughout the pod.

These products are just a small step in reducing our waste, and best of all, you can compost the used coffee grounds!