An elegant antidote to excess packaging nightmares.

When 9 billion K-Cups were sold last year—enough to circle the Earth 10.5 times—it inspired an apocalyptic video that showed the coffee pods obliterating a city, a metaphor for the product’s environmental problems. Since the plastic pods can’t be recycled or composted, they’ve become yet another single-use package filling up landfills. (Even their creator disavows them.)

The problem inspired Singapore-based designer Eason Chow to redesign an edible coffee capsule that fully dissolves into a cup of coffee, creating no waste at all. A hard layer of sugar holds everything together, and melts away as it heats up.

More: Forget The Wasteful K-Cup: This Edible Coffee Capsule Dissolves Into Your Drink | Co.Exist | ideas + impac