April 26, 2016

Coffee Cups Aren't as Green as We Think

For many of us, stopping into a Starbucks or another coffee chain for a cup of coffee is a daily ritual. The coffee comes in a paper cup, and if you do a little reading, you'll see that most chains claim that their cups are environmentally friendly because they're recycled and made from recycled materials.

A recent expose in The Times found that the claims of major coffee chains in London, including Starbucks, weren't based in fact. While some of their cups are indeed made from recycled materials, they are not being recycled as much as the companies lead the public to believe. In fact, only 1 out of every 400 cups used at coffee shops along London's High Street found their way to recycling facilities.

Starbucks went on record after the story broke saying that they and the other coffee chains need to work together to come up with solutions for recycling, not just in the UK, but around the world.

As a coffee drinker, you can do your part to cut down on paper by bringing along your own cup or using a stainless steel bottle like the Thinksport Stainless Steel Bottle, which is suitable for hot beverages and vacuum sealed to keep coffee hotter for longer. You can check it out here. Starbucks will actually give you a small discount for bringing in your own cup from home.

If you own a small coffee shop and want to offer a greener coffee cup to your customers, you can make the switch to Eco Products Hot Cups. Leakproof and heat-resistant, the cups feature a sugarcane exterior that feels and looks similar to paper and a liner that is made out of PLA plastic derived from corn. The cups are 100 percent biodegradable and compostable and are completely paper free. They're available in a number of styles, which you can see here at the Eco Products page.