Coffee Cup Catastrophe

scleaver — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0500

If you’re like me, you drink a fair amount of coffee and throw the cups away without another thought. Well, according to Eat. Drink. Better. I should rethink my drink-and-toss practices: disposable coffee cups are responsible for taking more than 6.5 million trees each year, and in 2006, 16 billion (estimated) coffee cups were thrown away, creating 250 million-plus pounds of waste.

Starbucks has gotten a bad eco-rap lately (see the post In The Blue) and the international coffee Co hasn’t fully gotten behind this green issue either. In March, 2006, disposable cup with 10% postconsumer recycled fiber was introduced. But, 10% leaves lots of room for improvement, considering that Green Mountain Coffee uses cups made from cornstarches that are 100% renewable and Tully’s Coffee Corporation uses a compostable cup and collects used cups in stores to make sure they’re recycled or composted (from Eat. Drink. Better.).

Of course, the best way to avoid filling land fills with your used latte cups is to use a travel mug: ReusableBags.com has a BPA free, stainless steel model, and EcoProducts.com has a travel mug made entirely from corn. Whether you’re using recycled paper mugs or a corn-made travel version, bottoms up!

Photo from ReallyNatural.com.