Meet the Gosport teacher who is turning used coffee pods into jewellery

But that is precisely what Gosport teacher Victoria Knight has done, transforming what was once destined for landfill into works of art.

For the past couple of years, Victoria has been perfecting the art of making jewellery from coffee pods – in answer to the ‘unnecessary waste’ of these products, which cannot be recycled.

The 28-year-old has been making jewellery for more than 10 years, but after discovering the beauty found in coffee pod packaging is working with a newfound purpose.

‘There is a real problem at the moment with single-use products going to waste,’ she said.

‘It’s not just plastics, there are other things that it isn’t possible to recycle – even when it really should be.

‘I’ve always been interested in upcycling and so decided to give it a go. It started out with me making a necklace and people seemed to really like it, so I started selling them and it took off from there.’

The coffee pods are not recycled at the moment because of how much energy would be burned by doing so – making it a counter-productive process.

Victoria’s art, which she has named Coffee Pod Creations, is now on display at Gosport Discovery Centre in Gosport High Street – and will be there for six weeks.

She claims that turning the pods into the jewellery is a fairly simple process.

She said: ‘Aluminium is a really versatile metal, and quite easy to shape too.

‘They come in a bunch of different colours and are actually quite beautiful.

‘I’ve made brooches, chains, key rings – you would be surprised what you can make from a single pod and it’s nice to have the chance to share that with people.’

Victoria hopes people will take an interest in her jewellery, and either take some home or start making their own sustainable trinkets.

The best part about this idea, she says, is that people won’t even recognise what the jewellery was in a past life.

She said: ‘It’s funny in a way – you walk past people and they have no idea that you’re wearing coffee pods for earrings.

‘But then if people ask where you bought your jewellery from it’s a really interesting talking point, and helps to spread the message about how much we are unnecessarily throwing away.’