(SPOT.ph) For most people, there’s nothing like a freshly brewed cup of coffee to jumpstart the day. Single-serve coffee machines have made their way from highbrow cafés into the regular kitchen, ensuring that you can get a perfect shot of espresso anytime. But there’s a downside to this that’s taking its toll on the environment: Single-use coffee capsules add to the very real problem of waste management. Nespresso has its own recycling facility for their aluminum coffee capsules, but there’s a bid to do more. This is why the foundation Negrense Volunteers for Change came up with the idea to upcycle coffee capsules into beautiful pieces of home decor.
Established in 2010 in Bacolod City, Negrense Volunteers for Change (NVC) Foundation, Inc. has been on a mission “to fight hunger and poverty by providing proper nutrition and access to quality education for children of the poor, as well as sustainable livelihood opportunities for their parents.” One of their livelihood projects, Artisans of Hope, focuses on training locals to upcycle trash such as bottles and eggshells and turn them into items that poor communities can sell and profit from. The program also helps the foundation raise funds for the Mingo Feeding Program, which provides nutritious food supplements for children of impoverished families.
The Rosa Rio collection (P350/piece)
The Aurora Astralis collection (P350/piece)
The Mabbina collection (P150/piece)
Now that NVC is in talks with Novateur Coffee Concepts—exclusive distributor of Nespresso in the Philippines—single-use coffee capsules will soon be part of their trash-to-treasure handicrafts. The pieces, perfect as Christmas ornaments, have a variety of designs. There’s the Rosa Rio collection, which are balls of intricate roses made from 135 folded coffee capsules; the Aurora Astralis collection, named after the Southern Lights to symbolize the light of hope for the families whose hands craft the piece; and the Mabbina collection, which is an Irish word for happiness to reflect the smiles of the children served by NVC. .
To participate in this effort, you may drop off your used coffee capsules at the Nespresso Boutique, G/F Power Plant Mall, Lopez Drive, Makati City.