http://www.care2.com/greenliving/disposable-coffee-cups-i-think-not.html
“Disposable” Coffee Cups? I Think Not!
Have you ever gone into a Starbucks or some other national coffee chain and sat down to have a cup of coffee? If you are like most people, you stood in line at the counter, ordered your non-fat milk half-decaf half-caf chai latte expressochino and then sat down to drink it while enjoying the soothing sounds of James Taylor or Kenny G. If you are like most Americans, you drank that description defying concoction out of a paper cup with a plastic top and a cardboard heat guard. And if you are like most Americans, you tossed it in the trash before you ever left the store.
Does this make sense to anyone?
Depending on where you go for your information, Starbucks gives away anywhere from 2 billion to 52 billion paper cups (and plastic tops and cardboard heat shields) a year. Now that’s a wide margin for error, but when you recognize that Americans alone consume 400 million cups of coffee a day (that’s 146 trillion a year … give or take a trillion) you realize that there are a ton of coffee cups and their acutraments being given out everyday. And when you realize that on average only 10 percent of everything that’s recycleable is recycled (the coffee cups are coated with plastic so can’t be recycled anyway), we’re talking about a lot of landfill space.
So what am I getting at? Well first off, at 400 million cups a day, maybe we need to ask ourselves whether as a nation, we are all a little more amped up than we should be. Having said that, let’s start with an in-store stop. I’m sorry, but there is truly no reason whatsoever that we should be forced to use a “disposable” cup when drinking a fresh jolt of caffeine in the store that we bought it from.
I don’t mean to pick on Starbucks, as all the chains are the same, and Starbucks has taken steps to lessen their impact, but I think it’s high time that we all told coffee houses that we aren’t going in for this anymore. Right now, I implore each of you out there who drinks coffee in the store, to head over there and ask for your coffee in a ceramic mug, and when they say they don’t do that, tell them that you’ll go and find somewhere that does and you’ll be back when they get with the program. Now I know that many of you have your favorite places to go to and don’t want to ruin your routine, so do it somewhere else instead. The idea is to send a message and trust me, if half of their in-store customers did this tomorrow, there’d be a meeting and things would change.
But let’s take a moment and look at the bigger issues with “disposable” coffee cups.
For starters, due to strict FDA standards, materials that come into contact with liquids meant for consumption cannot contain much, if any, recycled material. This is why Starbucks only has 10 percent recycled content in their cups. A savings for sure, but not enough. As a result, almost all of the new cups that are sold are made from virgin paper (read trees) that are bleached, chemically treated, and who knows what else. It’s a nasty process and extremely labor, energy, and resource intensive. Just look at the chart below from Sustainability is Sexy and you’ll see what I’m talking about.
Once you see the numbers, you realize it’s a complete mess. Now I’m not saying we cut out coffee (lord knows I’d get nothing done without it), rather that we take a different approach, change our routines a bit, and tread a little more lightly in the process. I’ve been on that train for quite some time and I can assure you it’s not that hard. You’ll feel better, possibly drink better java, and most certainly save some money at the same time.
Next up: How to stop the “disposable” cup express(o) from leaving the station in the first place.
Oh, and for those of you who were anticipating the final chapter in my water bottle saga, hang tight, it’s on the way in a few weeks, just pre-empted by some scheduling conflicts. But I promise you, it’ll be worth the wait.
Dave Chameides is an environmental educator and freelance filmmaker. He writes alternative fuel articles for Edmunds.com and maintains the blogs 365 Days of Trash and Achieving Sustainability. While he is presently saving all of his trash for a year to better understand his environmental impact, his main focus is sustainability through education and believes that with knowledge all things are possible.
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13 comments
add your comment »IF anyone reading this actually feels like they want to make a difference, please look to your workplace- Its easy to make the switch with those morning coffee cups and filters, even with paper plates and utensils. THE PRICE IS EVEN THE SAME TOO. So all you have to do is stop buying one brand, and start buying the other, simple.
-Dillon
Greenhome.com (Do It)
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buy a travel mug! Most places have a refill price.... 99 cents, for a travel mug
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I could not agree more with this article! Which is why I'm so thrilled that two (locally/privately owned) coffee shops in my community serve their in-store coffee in ceramic cups! One of the coffee-shops even uses to-go cups made from recycled (or compost) material!
Another option for those who don't want to put a crinkle in their coffee shop routine: do as I do - buy a travel mug and take it with you when you get coffee on the go (or to drink in-store) and tell the store manager why you're doing so.
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Here's another reason to say "no" to the paper coffee cup:
The glue on the seam of the cup contains melamine - that's right, the same stuff that causes kidney failure & killed all those pets last year, plus made 94,000 people sick in China this year (milk), and has been found in eggs now, too.
http://melaminepoisoning.wordpress.com/
Take your own cup, please!
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I love coffee! I appreicate this, I would rather have a cup to wash.
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Apart from the enormous mountains of plastic waste due to coffee mugs. we were amazed to see the huge portions of food served in diners fir instance. People cant eat it all and it also goes to waste. Coming from the hunger stricken Africa I sometimes wished to send a doggie bag back home. By the way I prefered Dunkin Donut to Starbucks. Whats this to do with the article? Absolutely nothing! Only brought back fond memories of Easter in NYC 2007!!!
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So have you ever asked the folks in the store why they charge more for bringing their own mug?
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I agree with the last comment, however in australia here, they charge you more to bring your own mug. I still can't get over it.
The habit is really to get used to be in charge of your own needs to an extent as you have to get into the habit of having to carry a mug and water bottle. Most guilty people who tell me why they don't use their own mugs is because they always lose them. They tell me this when they see mine.
On a positive note though I saw on the TV a while ago on a commercial cop show (numbers i think) that the characters were using travel mugs in the show. There is a trend that will be followed. When people see characters not using disposable products they will follow suit. The way of the western world, what the fictional tv characters do, we eventually do too....:O)
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Ceramic cups do require washing and detergent and someone to do the work ( or load into and out of a dishwasher) BUT I don't support any chain that serves in a 'disposable' cup. Anyway the independent coffee shops are often more likely to serve fair trade and organic coffee.
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Look at it this way:
Chances are that you'll be buying a gift for a friend or a loved one real soon..
Why not get them a coffee mug? They make great gifts. Not only that, you can never have too many coffee mugs.
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