Better Stop Using Disposable Coffee cup

With the development of economy, people's awareness of environmental protection has gradually deepened, such as weekly shopping with environmental protection bags, buying and using repeatable coffee cupsin coffee shops, etc. But is it really meaningful for eco-friendly environmental protection to use a repeatable coffee cup?

 

The study found that, based on the frequency of using cups once a day for one year, reusable cups made of any kind of material scored higher than disposable cups in terms of greenhouse gas emissions, toxic emissions and raw material use, that is, they were more environmentally friendly.

 

The use of reusable cups can reduce the environmental impact of waste management, so that the streets are not littered with disposable cups. But when it comes to whether environmental protection is reusable, people generally forget to consider other emissions or environmental impacts that occur during the life of the cup, such as the materials and energy used to make the reusable cup, the soap and hot water needed to wash the cup. What’s more the energy needed to heat hot water is also an important source of emissions.

 

But in the real life, you need to clean the cup after you use it. Repeatedly, the carbon emissions and potential environmental impacts of the washing process cannot be ignored. Cleaning cups with hot water, detergent or soap puts them at a disadvantage over disposable cups in terms of ecosystem quality indicators.

 

And a disposable coffee cup can be divided into three parts: the top cover, the bottom cover, and the insulating jacket and the paper cup in the middle provided by some coffee shops.

1. Lid

Start with the upper cover. If you see a recyclable symbol on the lid that says it's recyclable, you need to throw it in the recyclable bin. If it is not found, it is not recyclable and can be thrown into the ordinary trash can. Tip: Generally black cup caps are recyclable, but white or transparent plastic cup caps are generally not recyclable.

2. Insulating Paper Sleeve

Basically all insulating paper sets are made of recyclable paper and need to be thrown into recyclable trash cans.

3. Coffee Paper Cup

If it's only a 100% cup, of course, it can be recycled, but the key is the waterproof plastic inside the cup. Pure paper cups can't hold the heat and humidity of hot coffee, so waterproof plastics inside are essential. But this waterproof plastic is not recyclable. This layer of plastic and paper cups are glued together tightly, and there is no way to tear them apart easily. To be exact, no professional garbage company has the ability to separate them precisely.

 

Whether the reuse of cups or disposable cups is more environmentally friendly or not, the key to this problem is the number of cups used. Undoubtedly, the theory that reusable cups are more environmentally friendly and low carbon than disposable cups is based on a certain frequency of use. Reusable cups require 20 to 100 uses to compensate for greenhouse gas emissions from disposable cups, while ecosystem quality indicators may require more than 1,000 uses. If you use less reusable cups than these times, then use disposable cups instead, which will be more low carbon and environmentally friendly.