By Loretta Donelan, Section Editor, Emerson College
Like many young people, I considered coffee a symbol of adulthood. Growing up in New Hampshire, I looked forward to one day strutting around a city, Starbucks cup in hand. When I moved to Boston for college, I was able to realize this dream. Every morning, I’d get a cup of coffee from a café on my way to class and throw the cup away at the end of it. This ritual hasn’t changed much, except now, I always use a travel mug.
I know from my experience at Emerson that I am not alone in my caffeinated ritual. However, I noticed a while ago that students took many different measures in recycling their paper coffee cups. In my own suite, some of my roommates threw the cups in the trash, while others recycled the cup, plastic lid and all. I wasn’t sure what to do, and I am ashamed to say that, by default, I usually just threw the cup in the trash.
A few weeks ago, I took the RecycleMania pledge, which included among other requirements that I “learn what materials I can and cannot recycle at Emerson College.” I decided to send an email to Emerson’s Sustainability Coordinator to solve the mystery. I received a response containing a lot of new information. It turns out that each part of the cup is recycled differently. The plastic lids should go in with the other recycled plastics. The sleeves that often come on mugs should be thrown in the paper recycling. The cup itself should usually go in the trash. Many recycling facilities do not accept soiled paper, though others do. And this is just paper cups–styrofoam cups, like the ones from Dunkin Donuts, are rarely recycled, and when they end up in a landfill, they basically never decompose. Because of this ambiguity, the most environmental solution is to use a travel mug.
I strongly advise carrying a travel mug in your bag when you think you might have a coffee craving later on (if you’re like me, you should keep one on hand at all times). Almost all cafés allow you to have your coffee in a travel mug, and many (including Emerson’s cafés) offer a discount. This can be a challenge. It is easy to forget to bring a travel mug, and sometimes it seems like a hassle. But consider the impact of that hassle. If you use a reusable cup instead of two cups of coffee in a paper or styrofoam cup every day for a year, you are saving 24 pounds of waste a year. Creating both paper and styrofoam coffee cups uses fossil fuels. While the creation of one travel mug might be more environmentally draining than one paper cup, travel mugs are meant to last for years, while a paper cup lasts a few hours.
Consider how many Emersonians you see carrying paper coffee cups every day and how much room each of those cups takes up in a waste bin, and then a landfill. In addition to the 58 billion paper cups used by Americans each year, Americans throw away 25 billion styrofoam cups annually, and that amount will be sitting in a landfill for millennia.
Like many young people, I considered coffee a symbol of adulthood. Growing up in New Hampshire, I looked forward to one day strutting around a city, Starbucks cup in hand. When I moved to Boston for college, I was able to realize this dream. Every morning, I’d get a cup of coffee from a café on my way to class and throw the cup away at the end of it. This ritual hasn’t changed much, except now, I always use a travel mug.
I know from my experience at Emerson that I am not alone in my caffeinated ritual. However, I noticed a while ago that students took many different measures in recycling their paper coffee cups. In my own suite, some of my roommates threw the cups in the trash, while others recycled the cup, plastic lid and all. I wasn’t sure what to do, and I am ashamed to say that, by default, I usually just threw the cup in the trash.
A few weeks ago, I took the RecycleMania pledge, which included among other requirements that I “learn what materials I can and cannot recycle at Emerson College.” I decided to send an email to Emerson’s Sustainability Coordinator to solve the mystery. I received a response containing a lot of new information. It turns out that each part of the cup is recycled differently. The plastic lids should go in with the other recycled plastics. The sleeves that often come on mugs should be thrown in the paper recycling. The cup itself should usually go in the trash. Many recycling facilities do not accept soiled paper, though others do. And this is just paper cups–styrofoam cups, like the ones from Dunkin Donuts, are rarely recycled, and when they end up in a landfill, they basically never decompose. Because of this ambiguity, the most environmental solution is to use a travel mug.
I strongly advise carrying a travel mug in your bag when you think you might have a coffee craving later on (if you’re like me, you should keep one on hand at all times). Almost all cafés allow you to have your coffee in a travel mug, and many (including Emerson’s cafés) offer a discount. This can be a challenge. It is easy to forget to bring a travel mug, and sometimes it seems like a hassle. But consider the impact of that hassle. If you use a reusable cup instead of two cups of coffee in a paper or styrofoam cup every day for a year, you are saving 24 pounds of waste a year. Creating both paper and styrofoam coffee cups uses fossil fuels. While the creation of one travel mug might be more environmentally draining than one paper cup, travel mugs are meant to last for years, while a paper cup lasts a few hours.
Consider how many Emersonians you see carrying paper coffee cups every day and how much room each of those cups takes up in a waste bin, and then a landfill. In addition to the 58 billion paper cups used by Americans each year, Americans throw away 25 billion styrofoam cups annually, and that amount will be sitting in a landfill for millennia.
Travel mugs are prettier, anyway. You can buy them super cheap from Starbucks, or buy a school spirit-y one from the bookstore. Most of the mugs you find online cost under $10. If you are way hip, you can even buy one of those camera lens travel mugs. You can also buy mugs made of biodegradable materials for when you eventually have to throw them away. Something important to consider when purchasing a travel mug is your typical coffee order. Some cafés won’t make fancy drinks like cappuccinos or chai lattes in a travel mug, often because the mug won’t fit under the machine. A safe solution to this is to get a mug that’s the size of a normal paper cup so that it will fit under the average espresso machine.
Of course, coffee cups are only a small percentage of the waste we create. It’s just an example of something I realized that I used every day and noticed a lot of others using. I recommend taking a similar look at objects you use and waste in your daily routine. Is there any way you can change your habits to create less waste? If you are confused on how to recycle something, contact Eric Van Vlandren, Emerson’s sustainability coordinator. If you are elsewhere, see if your school or town has a similar environmental resource you can consult. There are also a variety of websites that provide specific guidelines on living a more sustainable life, such as RecycleNow and National Geographic’s Green Guide.
If you care at all about climate change and the future of our planet, it’s imperative that you take these small steps. It’s usually just a matter of taking a little extra time to discover what you should do to reduce your impact. When faced with the options of “compost”, “recycle”, or “landfill” at a restaurant, take a few extra seconds to really read what items belong where, or ask an employee. And when you’re headed out the door at the start of a busy day, take that extra minute to turn back and grab your travel mug. It’s not that much to ask.
Images: sprudge.com, Thatsnerdalicious.com
Of course, coffee cups are only a small percentage of the waste we create. It’s just an example of something I realized that I used every day and noticed a lot of others using. I recommend taking a similar look at objects you use and waste in your daily routine. Is there any way you can change your habits to create less waste? If you are confused on how to recycle something, contact Eric Van Vlandren, Emerson’s sustainability coordinator. If you are elsewhere, see if your school or town has a similar environmental resource you can consult. There are also a variety of websites that provide specific guidelines on living a more sustainable life, such as RecycleNow and National Geographic’s Green Guide.
If you care at all about climate change and the future of our planet, it’s imperative that you take these small steps. It’s usually just a matter of taking a little extra time to discover what you should do to reduce your impact. When faced with the options of “compost”, “recycle”, or “landfill” at a restaurant, take a few extra seconds to really read what items belong where, or ask an employee. And when you’re headed out the door at the start of a busy day, take that extra minute to turn back and grab your travel mug. It’s not that much to ask.
Images: sprudge.com, Thatsnerdalicious.com