Reusable Coffee Cups

Our new segment, Sustainable Swap Sundays, features our council members and their choice of sustainable swap. In it, we address why we made the switch, the environmental impacts, and how it can be implemented within the community. We also shout out some of our faves and recommendations!

Swap: Reusable cups in place of single use cups

Why I Made the Switch

I am a huge coffee/tea drinker and enjoy having a bit of caffeine while I am out. However, I thought to myself how much waste I was producing by purchasing a single-use cup every/other day and felt guilty for throwing it out after I finished it, even if it was recyclable. It was the first step into reducing my waste/plastic consumption (and I won’t deny that it looked pretty and ‘aesthetically pleasing’, but for good reasons!). It kind of paved the way for more reusable items in my daily life!

Environmental Impacts

It is common knowledge that the use of plastic, especially single-use plastic, is one of the leading causes of greenhouse gas emissions, and the majority ends up in our landfills, environments, and oceans. “The UN Environment reports that only 9% of the world’s 8 billion tonnes of plastic have been recycled” [1].

The energy, production, and cost of producing disposable and reusable cups can vary to different degrees. It takes into account the environmental impacts both produce and how it is linked to or cause emissions, pollutants, deforestation, biodiversity loss, global warming, and the degradation of the natural environment [1].

Producing one disposable cup has a lower environmental impact than producing one reusable cup, which means the production of disposable cups is more eco-friendly. However, that being said, the amount of disposable cups being used stacks up to a greater environmental concern than using a single reusable cup. Disposing of single-use cups leads to greater environmental degradation, such as populated landfills, slower breakdowns of plastic cups, air pollution, and greenhouse gas emissions released from these landfills.

“While it takes more energy to produce reusable cups because they have a longer lifespan, their overall environmental impact is much less than disposable cups.” (Evans, 2019) [2]

Community Action

Although it is great that we are taking action by changing our habits and consumption behaviours on an individual level, it is important to acknowledge the root of the issues of companies and consumerism, selling products that are not contributing to the ethics of the environment, and demand necessary change within these larger corporations.

It’s not that we need to invest in sustainable and environmentally friendly items to reduce our carbon footprints, but rather that companies and corporations should reassess and reevaluate their production methods, energy consumption, and product materials. This should go down to businesses like coffee shops and restaurants, choosing more sustainable, reusable, and environmentally friendly methods and materials.

In the past year or so, many coffee shops, both chains and independent ones, have been implementing biodegradable/compostable cups, less plastic materials, and even paper straws and pasta stir sticks in place of plastic ones. The Majority of coffee shops should give a discount when bringing reusable cups, so it encourages more people to bring their own!

Yuddha’s Favourites/Recommendations

"Glass cups are considered one of the best alternatives — according to environmental comparisons, using a glass cup just six times can offset its impact compared to single-use paper or plastic cups."  (Evans, 2019) [2]

KEEP CUP: https://ca.keepcup.com
‍BYTA: https://mybyta.com
‍Ecoffee Cup: https://ecoffeecup.com