If there's one thing I've learned about our own human nature, it's that we'll sacrifice anything in the future for even the slightest increase in convenience in the present. It's bonkers. The convenience these machines affords us is not large. It's tiny. If we could shave one second off the process by encasing the whole thing in yet another plastic single-use envelope, we'd do it instantly. If we could avoid having to re-fill the tank by purchasing pre-filled plastic tanks and tossing them in the garbage each time, we'd do it in a heartbeat.

And our food squeamishness also exists on a sliding scale: we will always accumulate more and more layers of plastic around our food, even though it's already packaged in a way that's totally safe and durable and sanitary. Remember when cereal just came in the cardboard box? This process is cumulative and will never end. We will never say no to another layer of plastic around our products at some point in the journey from factory to consumption.

I'd like to know exactly how recyclable those Nestle pods are. I suppose they refill and reuse them? What about if you toss them into a standard recycling system instead of mailing them to Nestle, which will never be a commitment that a significant number of consumers make. Sorry, it's just not going to happen at scale and they know it. The program is likely just PR. I doubt they are recyclable in a single-stream system because they're full of coffee grounds / whatever else.

It's astounding how much of the stuff we think we're sending to be recycled is just rejected and tossed anyway. It's an enormous percentage.