Why Not Stretch Use Of Coffee Filters?

Be practical: you don't need
to refresh the filter every time.

This may offend coffee purists, but it's a simple fact that for most morning coffee, by the time you're done adding cream and sweetener, the subtle details of the coffee is lost. All you're really getting is the reassuring warmth and a hefty slap to the brain.

So why is it necessary to put in a new filter every day?

For the past half-year I have made coffee every morning by just adding two scoops of fresh grounds to the filter, leaving yesterday's grounds be. When the grounds cup is almost full, I toss the whole thing into the compost bin, but in the meantime I get five or six uses out of a filter, instead of one.

There is no sanitary impact. Running boiling water through the grounds eliminates any bugs.

There is very little taste impact. This is the morning coffee, drunk for utility purposes, and adulterated by cream, soy milk or (our favorite, when available) egg nog. We really can't tell the difference after adding all that.

The money and environmental impact are small but real. We have cut our filter use about 80%. This will never make us rich or, by itself, save the planet, but every little bit helps!