Brew Up a Paper-less Green Solution: Make A Cloth Coffee Filter

Okay: not the best title.  But consider this: Coffee breathes life into us in the mornings.  Many of us cling to mugs and cups of it throughout the day.  With it, our worlds are just a little bit perkier; just a bit more bright and happy.

But woe for the morning without this dark, bitter-sweet elixir.  All because someone ran out of coffee filters -- a wee scrap of paper -- cars fly off bridges, trains crash, and planes plummet out from the skies.  

Okay, I'm exagerating a little.  But think about it: because of the way home coffee makers are made, that little scrap of paper is sometimes what determines whether you get your morning java fix or not.

Of course, there is an eco-smart way around this: use a coffee filter that not made of paper.  Think of it: you save trees, you save energy (by not making paper), and you save money.  Now I'll confess that while I have relied on filters made from nylon and types of plastic mesh, something tastes odd in my mug dawn mug of mud compared to those times when we used unbleached paper filters.

Fortunately, there is another way around this which is even more money-saving than using a plastic re-useable filter: make your own cloth coffee filter out of cotton.

The blog "greenmomintheburbs" at wordpress.com has assembled and simplified the process:

Using a tight-weave cotton fabric (such as handkerchief fabric or unbleached muslin–make sure you pre-wash it!), cut three circles about 9 inches in diameter.

(I use a paper coffee filter as a pattern and cut out the cloth according to that size.  The reason is I know the paper filter fits my coffeemaker's filter basket.)

Using an overlock or zigzag stitch, sew around the circumference of the circle through all three layers.

Press into the coffeemaker’s basket and spread out the way you would a paper filter. (Dampen and squeeze out the cloth before making the coffee.)

After use, compost grounds, thoroughly rinse out filter in hot water, wring well, and hang to dry.  After every few uses, give it a good vinegar rinse. (Or make five filters and toss them in the wash. This would be easier.)

In the end, you get a filter that has the same filter/flavoring characteristics of paper while also being reuseable.  Plus, you reduced your carbon footprint, save energy, and trees.  If you wear them out, you can always make another five or six for a fraction of the cost of a hundred disposable paper ones.

Comments

[Jenn the Caffeine-Swilling Greenmom]

Hey, thanks for linking! (Yeah, DOH, using a paper filter as a template for your cloth one seems like a no-brainer I should have thought of...on the other hand, my impetus for doing this was because I was out of paper filters!) Enjoy your java--
Jenn