...my new companion. She's a mug, that's right, a Maryland Terrapins travel mug. Look at that chic deep metallic red finish. She can hold almost 16 oz., coffee of course (she hates tea), and keep it nice and warm for me thanks to her insulating double wall. I bought her to be able to enjoy my coffees without the bitter side taste that disposing of the paper cup coffee is inevitably served in gives me every time I frequent a coffee shop, which has become much like a daily habit. It feels bad to throw away so many cups. Considering a-coffee-a-day routine, on a yearly basis that would equal to sending some 360 cups to the landfill, me alone. That feels like a lot. Accounting for all consumers the numbers are staggering: it is estimated that in America 23 billion paper cups will be used in 2010. Nearly all of them go to the landfill. They can't be recycled, because regulations are strict when it comes to allowing recycled paper to be in direct contact with the beverage. Besides, the cups are lined with polyethylene to waterproof them, making it more difficult to recycle them.
Drinking coffee from a reusable cup must be better, right? Intuitively that's what I thought, and since many coffee shops would fill-up your cup if you bring one, It made sense to buy one. But is it really better? A reusable cup must be manufactured, and in the case of my metal baby that requires non-renewable resources and likely more energy. It needs to be washed, too. Googling a little bit didn't yield a clear answer: it's a close call and depends on (and is sensitive to) factors that vary geographically. Apparently, it's not an issue that has wide academic attention. Many sources lead back to this 1991 study by Hocking, who compared disposable cups to reusable ones for energy consumption only. This 'sustainability is sexy' website judges in favor of the reusable cup.
One conclusion that I think I can draw is that if there could be an environmental advantage to my mug, the mug is to stay with me for quite a while to harvest its potential, forcing me to overcome that little awkward feeling when digging up that thing from my backpack and handing it over to the cashier, with the remnant smell of my last coffee experience filling the local air space. Not using a reusable cup makes things only worse. I'm locked-in to this thing now. In the end, it makes me feel better.
And what's more: how wide should the boundaries of the comparison between reusable and disposable be chosen? I wonder what the co-benefits would be of all coffee houses switching to reusable cups; would it have mental side-effects and affect the throw-away culture to one of more durable goods and less packaging?
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