Dear neighbours,
An enormous exotic bird has taken up residence in my garden. He arrived last week, nestled in and made himself at home. His plumage is a dazzling array of gold, purple, blue, green, and red, glistening like thousands of shiny metallic coffee pods. This mythical and mysterious bird is a unique creation of kerbside junk and coffee pod art.
Not your usual coffee buzz
His hypnotic turquoise eyes and quirky head tilt draw me to him. He tells me his name is Kerbichino. At first, I worry he’ll be a coffee-frenzied guest, buzzing around, tearing up my garden, and causing havoc. He assures me that’s not his coffee vibe at all. As I get to know Kerbichino, I understand that, despite being fuelled by caffeine, he is more an iced coffee than a double-shot short black.
While he does indeed devour used aluminium coffee pods, his favourite pods are those gently discarded by:
- Good friends catching up and sharing heartfelt conversations
- Lovers on a lazy Sunday morning
- A tired mum savouring five minutes’ peace
- A retiree starting the morning with gratitude and reflection.
- Family and friends, after a good meal, a few drinks and lots of laughter.
These pods are sweet delicacies.
Kerbichino finds the pods discarded by mean gossips, overzealous salespeople, or those using coffee as a hangover cure to be tough and unpalatable.
The strange side effects of caffeine
Despite Kerbichino’s strange coffee pod diet, his body is strong, forged from treasures found during Brisbane kerbside collection, and his heart is robust…… But you may smell or hear him before you see him. Kerbichino’s diet creates high-pressure, noisy, coffee-laden farts which can leave you feeling jittery and yearning for your favourite brew.
We enjoy having Kerbichino as our guest. He flies off early in the morning to peer into local kitchen windows, searching for a fresh feed of shiny coffee pods. He returns sated in the late afternoon. If you see him, please greet him warmly and leave some used pods out for him.
Kerbichino thanks all of you who have already fed him his delicious pods.
Born of Upcycled Junk and Coffee Pods
It took a bit of help from family. 
Months of living with mess in the lounge room.
And some tricky balancing.
Coffee Pod Art Links
If you want to know more about how I make coffee pod art, you can find it below.
Meet Tall Black: The Eco‑Chic Giraffe Who Moved Into My Backyard
My first collection of waste items was used coffee pods. Through the Facebook community page, I asked my neighbourhood to increase their coffee consumption and hand over their used pods. Thanks to the local caffeine addicts, I have a dazzling collection of brightly coloured aluminium coffee pods, but I still need more. My garage — and most of my clothes — carry the unmistakable aroma of damp, decaying coffee grounds.
I wanted to continue making upcycled garden sculptures from coffee pods, but the lack of a frame and my very limited sculpture skills left me stymied.
I devoted a couple of weekends to driving around Brisbane suburbs scheduled for their kerbside collections. I collected wire hanging baskets, plant trellises, rolls of chicken wire, and the circular covers from fans… maybe I could make this peacock. A selection of wire trip hazards joined my garage collection of festering coffee pods.
I’ll know whether my collection of junk can become art in a few months…or perhaps next year. It’s a long, slow process fuelled by coffee, my love of making good from bad, family help and the contribution of my coffee-loving neighbourhood.
