A little Q&A

One of the things I wanted to do originally with the blog was to share some environmental factoids with everyone about the real impact of throwing everything away. We need to understand that the things (coffee cups are just the tip of the iceberg) that we use to make our lives "easier" on a daily basis are things that we only use for minutes a day but they are built to be around forever. That's not an exaggeration. The paper cup, the sleeve, lid, napkin, stir stick, sugar packet--it takes a lot of packaging to make one cup of coffee exist. That's not even mentioning the coffee processing itself, which I'll leave to another blogger. So I want to illustrate how easily we can all find this info. I am not working with anyone who has any more knowledge about recycling or green living than the average Joe. I only have access to the same information as everyone else.

So I Googled "How many disposable cups does the average American use per year" and "Recycling statistics." One site that kept coming up was Sustainability is Sexy. They have some good stuff on the subject, plus it looks like they have mugs for sale. Here is a sampling of some of their info:

• Typical paper coffee cups aren't made from recycled paper. Instead, most cups are manufactured using 100% bleached virgin paperboard. Why don't manufacturers use recycled paper? Firstly, FDA regulations are strict when it comes to allowing recycled paper pulp to be in direct contact with food and beverages. Secondly, recycled paper isn't strong enough to hold a liquid.
• According to the paper industry, Americans will consume an estimated 23 billion paper coffee cups in 2010. Rob Martin, the Vice President of Merchandising and Production for Tully's Coffee, estimated the 2006 use usage at 16 billion paper cups.
• Reusable mugs do more than just affect the environment positively--they also save both coffee houses and coffee drinkers money. A study done in 2000 found that Starbucks could save more than $1 million per year in packaging costs by implementing reusable cups.

I just copied some interesting bits from the site, but go check it out yourself. You don't need to donate money to anyone. You don't need to chain yourself to a tree in protest of deforestation. You just need to start with your own habits, so go get yourself a reusable coffee mug, or come find me, and I'll make sure you get one.