Making Coffee Green

One of my favorite things about the Hourglass is that it reflects a lot of the values we took to heart when we were designing it. A big part of that is how environmentally friendly it is—what we like to call “Eco-Smart.” We set out to make a product that consumes and wastes less, and the Hourglass is the outcome of that intention (plus, thousands of development hours).

First off, the Hourglass uses no power. Zero. That means that it doesn’t need to be plugged in, and there are no batteries to recharge. As we like to say, the Hourglass is Powered by Cold Water & Time™, and nothing else. Consider a traditional coffee maker: plugged in, it may not consume very much power in a single day…but over a lifetime, that adds up to a considerable amount of wasted energy (and money).

The Hourglass uses no paper filters. The stainless steel filter lasts a lifetime, but more importantly, saves you from having to throw out damp, heavy filters every day.

The Hourglass uses a bit more coffee grounds to make coffee than standard coffee brewers and makes about 8 servings per brew cycle. But because you use every drop of coffee made, there is no coffee going to waste. Many Hourglass owners brew one batch of coffee extract at the beginning of the week, and use some each day until they’re out and the week is over. Those people tell me a lot about feeling relieved at not having to throw out coffee every day anymore!

It’s always been important to us that the Hourglass be as green as it could be, and although the savings may seem small, we believe that’s exactly how big environmental changes start.