Why are we still accepting single-use coffee cups?
Over the past few weeks as Autumn has been rolling in and sunny days have transitioned to scattered showers and darker evenings I’ve noticed a large uptick in people walking through town with takeaway hot drinks. I don’t blame them at all, this season always makes me crave an oatmilk chai latte or a fancy hot chocolate with all the extras if I’m feeling particularly decadent, and I know that it is of course the season of pumpkin spiced everything!
What I am shocked at though is quite how many of these warm takeaway beverages are still in single-use cups… almost all of them. As a very amateur guesstimate I’d say that 90% of people walking past my window with a drink in their hands are still opting for a plastic-lined disposable cup instead of taking their own cup into their coffee shop of choice.
Single-use coffee cups are a massive exercise in greenwashing. Costa and their ilk have convinced so many people that their disposable coffee cups can be recycled but that just isn’t the case at all unless they somehow magically make their way to a very specific type of recycling plant that specialises in separating composite materials.
“Over 99% of the 2.5 billion disposable coffee cups used every year in the UK will end up landfilled or incinerated”*
So this got me upset and more than a little angry, but it also got me thinking. Why did we introduce a bag tax but not a coffee cup tax? Almost everyone has got onboard with the concept of taking your tote bags to the supermarket except for a few stragglers who are still digging their heels in and refuse to change their harmful ways, so why hasn’t there been as much effort put into the fight against the massive landfill issue that are single-use cups?
It seems that quite often changing to more environmentally-friendly habits only happens when there is enough of an obstacle or an inconvenience for people, like being charged 10p for a plastic bag, or being ‘forced’ to use a paper straw in McDonalds.
But when our roads and towns are being flooded, when hurricanes like the awful Helene which just devastated parts of America, it’s very hard for people to draw the line linking these events to their day to day actions like choosing to use a single-use coffee cup. Which is such a shame as we really could be mitigating some of these extremes of weather that we’re facing if only we all could take a proactive stance on fighting climate change!
Sustainable living isn’t even for the privileged few these days. You can buy reusable coffee cups from practically anywhere now, not just sustainable living shops like mine but supermarkets, pound shops, even inside the actual coffee shops! Yes they’re going to vary in quality and longevity but there’s options out there for all price ranges which is so important.
There are huge perks to using reusable coffee cups too besides the environmental good you’ll be doing. You get to have another accessory with you that can express your personality, that matches your favourite autumn outfit. You can stick stickers on them, find the perfect colour combinations, choose between glass, thermal metal, even some cups like the ones that I stock from Circular & Co that are made out of recycling single-use cups.
They’re sturdier, stay upright a lot better, and some can even be leakproof meaning you can pop them into your backpack or handbag to enjoy slowly. You’re not forced to carry them in your hand and make sure that you don’t spill any. You don’t have to worry about finding a bin to put them in when you’ve finished and in my humble opinion you just look a lot cooler. Showing that you care and that you’re doing your bit no matter how small. It sets an example and shows others that there is a better way.
So why not challenge yourself in October to ditch the disposable cups for good? I have a lovely selection of cups if you wanted to take a look, but as I mentioned earlier you can pretty much pick one up from anywhere.The important thing is to just make a start on building this habit!
* https://www.commercialwastequotes.co.uk/blog/disposable-coffee-cup-recycling/#:~:text=Industrial-scale%20coffee%20cup%20recycling,end%20up%20landfilled%20or%20incinerated.