Environmental Issues - Disposable Cups

If everyone on the planet made a conscious choice to reduce their footprint on the environment, it would make a huge difference for future generations. Awareness begins with education, so we are pleased to provide the following environmental information about disposable coffee cups:

Disposable Coffee Cups

After oil, coffee is the world's most commonly traded commodity: North America uses 60% of the world's paper cups: 400 million cups per day, or about 146 billion each year. Production of these cups uses about 50 million trees and 35 billion gallons of water. The petrochemicals used in the manufacture of those cups could have heated 8,300 homes for one year.

Because many disposable cups are lined with a petroleum-based plastic (polyethylene) to prevent leaking, they cannot be recycled. As a result, billions of disposable coffee cups end up in North American landfills every year.

Without a doubt, our morning fix has an impact on the environment.

Some coffee retailers, including Starbucks, are encouraging the use of reusable mugs by either charging extra for paper cups or offering discounts to those who bring their own cup. According to Starbucks, if 50 customers at each location used reusable mugs, we would save 150,000 cups per day, reducing waste by 1.7 million pounds of paper per year.

Doing your part is easy - just bring a thermos or a mug to the coffee shop with you. Pics Canada has made it even easier with their customizable Picture Mug.