Takeaway coffee appears to have taken over our lives in a similar way to cellphones. Half the people you pass on a crowded street or when you settle down in a library will be drinking coffee out of cardboard cups. But our enjoyment has a price; just one takeout beverage each day generates more than 10 kg of garbage annually. Our dependence on caffeine harms the environment, but it needn’t. Here are six explanations for why purchasing a reusable coffee cup is preferable to using disposable ones.
It reduces waste.
The fundamental justification for giving up throwaway cups is environmental protection. Every two minutes, a startling 10,000 cups are wasted in the UK, amounting to nearly 2.5 billion cups annually. Customers believe cardboard cups are environmentally friendly, yet just one out of every 400 cups is really recycled. The plastic lining, which cannot be removed from the cardboard in a typical recycling plant, is fused with the cardboard to make the cups watertight. Due to their significant difficulty in recycling, only a few specialized facilities in the UK are able to do so.
Saving of resources
Coffee cups made of cardboard cannot be created from recycled materials and are not recyclable. They must be produced from brand-new cardboard in order to comply with health and safety laws because of their design, which places one thin edge of cardboard in contact with the liquid inside the cup. A takeaway cup’s existence is brief, but it leaves a huge carbon impact. It is estimated that more than 100,000 trees are needed to feed the UK’s coffee consumption each year.
You can save money.
Utilizing a Reusable Coffee Cup not only helps the environment but also your wallet. Local coffee shops have adopted similar programs, such as Taste, which will give you 15p off your drink if you BYOC. Major coffee chains like Starbucks, Costa, and Pret A Manger all offer discounts when you use your own cup. If you make it a habit of carrying your own cup, you’ll be more likely to fill it up at home and take it with you, which will save you more money.
Your coffee will stay warm.
Have you ever strolled back to the office or library on a chilly day only to discover that your coffee is only warm when you get there to drink it? This issue is a thing of the past thanks to the availability of several sturdy insulated mugs.
Your coffee is better tasting.
Your morning cappuccino won’t taste like plastic anymore thanks to reusable cups. If you routinely consume hot drinks through a plastic lid, you run the risk of ingesting a dangerous material called BPA, which can contaminate both your drink and your body. Using a ceramic, BPA-free plastic, or stainless steel cup prevents any potential health risks, despite contradicting research regarding the dangers of BPA.