Eco-Friendly DIY: Hanging K-Cup Planters

1 of 10

I am always looking for reuse projects that give new lives to everyday, single use items that we normally toss in the garbage. This is the fuel behind a lot of my creativity; contents of my trash and recycling bins. It is a distinctive take at traditional crafting, but I believe it comes with priceless benefits, especially by reducing waste and environmental impact.

Working in an office environment, I see many used K-Cups on a daily basis. Our trash bins usually contain at least five of these single-serving, no mess coffee pods by the time 9 a.m. rolls around. Especially beneficial for small urban spaces, this”vertical garden” is an unique and creative way to house plants inside or out. My goal was to create a grid of hanging plants out of empty K-Cups to display in our front office window, using minimal components to create a big visual impact.

Hanging K-Cup Planters

Photo: Alexandra Vietti

One thing that we have a constant supply of at the office is used K-Cups. K-Cups are the single-serving, no mess coffee filter pods that make individual cups of coffee in Keurig brewing systems.

I collected cups for about two days in the Earth911 office and from our neighbors. Lots of coffee gets consumed around these parts! With a bucket of these little guys in my lap, I needed to decide on their fate.

Based on their tiny yet complexly unique engineering, I knew they would be great homes for micro-plants to hang in our large office windows.