It’s safe to say that a good portion of the population drinks coffee and unfortunately that means that out of those coffee drinkers, a high percentage of us use disposable paper cups. We don’t think much about it but the amount paper cups that go into the landfills is pretty sickening. In 2006, it is estimated that 16 billion paper cups were used. To put it into perspective, if you drink one cup of coffee/tea per day, you will create 23 pounds of trash in just one year! Companies like Starbucks have introduced reusable cups which you purchase for $1 and then receive $0.10 off each beverage every time you use the cup. This program has helped reduce 700,000 pounds of waste each year for the past decade.
Coffee pods is another example of such waste and I’m guilty of contributing to this terrible trend. But thankfully there are people working on solutions such as the company Reduce, Reuse, Grow. The company offers biodegradable coffee cups which aim to educate consumers as well as change their bad coffee habits.
These innovative cups feature embedded seeds in the coffee cup which can be planted after finishing your beverage to grow flowers or native trees of your state. The company is currently in the process of launching their first round of compost packaging products with their program ‘Buy a Cup, Grow a Plant’ in San Luis Obispo, California. Future plans include expansion in to other territories such as Denver, Seattle, and several major cities in California.
This program is helping offset overgrazing, fire destroyed forests, and deforestation. For more details, have a look at the Reduce, Reuse, Grow website.
