One of the first things I do in the morning is prepare my morning elixir. The dictionary defines an elixir as a magical or medicinal solution. There is nothing medicinal in my morning indulgence but consuming it certainly has a magical way of energizing my day. For me, “it’s the best part of waking up.”

As my readers are aware, I often invite them to participate in a little game in addition to reading my column. When you see something here with quotation marks, try to identify the coffee brand it relates to. The answers will be at the end of this column.

I must have my first cup of coffee before leaving the house. I am not alone in my coffee consumption. The United States is the land of the free and the home of the brew. The average American drinks about three cups of coffee daily. About 70 percent of us consume coffee every day, which is more than we drink tap water. In fact, we are number one in coffee consumption more than tripling Germany which comes in a distant second.

It is generally believed that brewing and drinking coffee began in Ethiopia around 575 A.D. It was not used as a refreshing beverage but as an energy-boosting source. A goatherd noticed that his lethargic goats had more pep in their steps after chewing coffee-like cherries. Somehow the word spread to Yemen where monks boiled the beans and drank the brew to stay awake during their extended prayer sessions. For those monks, the tasty energizing treat was “good to the last drop.”

In the 18th century crude devices offered a convenient way of brewing coffee. Searching for a way to wash down a day-old croissant, the French in 1710 began putting ground up coffee beans in cloth bags. They then dipped them in hot water as if they were making tea. 

In 1780, a machine was invented that was the first coffee brewer with a filter. Consumers developed such a big thirst for coffee that people began experimenting with machines to brew it at home instead of venturing out to a café. A German homemaker in 1908 invented the first home drip coffee maker. She fashioned filters out of blotting paper. It was a hit with middle class consumers because, “better coffee a millionaire’s money can’t buy.”

Eventually there were many diverse kinds of coffee machines for the home. Soon consumers realized that fresh coffee tasted better than reheating the brew that was made that morning. Thus, the single-serving pod machine was invented.

According to Stanley Dripmore, a noted coffee historian, the pod revolution has taken over. He postulates that the use of pods to brew a cup of coffee, although offering ease and a variety of taste, has become an environmental nightmare. People take the used pods, open up a garbage can and “fill it to the rim.” 

There are many companies that have jumped on the pod bandwagon. But two of them have dominated the industry, Keurig and Nespresso. The single-serve coffee market yields about $16 billion in annual revenue.

In North America and Europe about sixty-two billion pods a year are placed in those single-serve brewers. Almost exclusively made of plastic and with only 28% of them recycled, over 150 million pods wind up in landfill every day. Even though refillable multi-use pods are available, very few people use them.

I offer this solution to the environmental impact. At time of pod purchase, vendors should charge a decent amount of money to encourage recycling. The nickel tithe on cans and bottles is not enough to coerce most people to recycle. Place a mandatory recycling fee of twenty-five cents per can, bottle or pod and users might think twice about tossing them away.

So, if you read my column as you enjoyed your morning cup of coffee here are the coffee brands associated with those statements in quotes. In order: Folgers, Maxwell House, Chock Full o’ Nuts and Brim Decaf.

Hudson Cooper is a resident of Sullivan County, a writer, comedian and actor.