- How the Cups are made
- Styrofoam cups are made from the material called polystyrene, a type of plastic that is used in many products, including LEGOs, bike helmets and other hard plastics. Like other plastics, Styrofoam is created from modified petroleum.
- On the other hand, paper cups are also usually not made from all-natural materials. Most paper cups for hot beverages are coated in polyethylene to increase their durability and water resistance. However, it also prevents the cups from being recycled.
- Starbucks, one of the leading coffee shops in the UK, now makes its disposable cups with 10% recycled content. They won’t use a higher percentage because the recycled cups they’ve tried in the past leaked or failed and customers complained.
- The fact is, regardless what they’re made of, most disposable beverage cups end up in landfills. So 500 years from now, the polystyrene cup you toss out today will still exist either in a landfill or somewhere in our environment.
- Environmental Dangers
- When we talk about the problem of people throwing away coffee cups, the question is why it’s a problem. People might say it’s a problem only if the coffee cups are not good to recycle or when the production methods cause the actual environmental effect.
It’s true that manufacturing reusable cups creates a bigger initial environmental impact than paper cups. However, that impact lessens over times as the reusable cup is reused.
Each reusable cup has a magic number of uses at which point it becomes more environmentally friendly than a paper cup. Thus, indeed, there are environmental dangers associated with Styrofoam and paper cups. Paper cups endanger thousands, or even million, of trees which are cut down to make paper products. - According to a study conducted by Starbucks and the Alliance for the Environmental Innovation (April 2000), each paper cup manufactured is responsible for 0.24 lbs of CO2 emissions. Considering the vast number of cups produced each year, this is a starting figure. Styrofoam cups have their own dangers as well. Styrofoam cannot be completely recycled. Most of the Styrofoam disposed of today will still be present in landfills 500 years from now.
- Health Dangers
- Paper and Styrofoam cups not only affect the environment, but also our health. According to Rodale, the International Agency for Research on Cancer, has labeled polystyrene a “probable carcinogen.”
And according to a study published in Food and Chemical Toxicology Journal, when Styrofoam is heated, the chemicals can leach out of the Styrofoam and into the hot food. Since most paper cups are coated in a petroleum resin, this chemical can also leach into the hot beverages which will eventually affect our health.
- What are you waiting for?!
- Fold n' Go cups are made of silicone and metal interior. It's stable to hold and it will keep your drink warm without burning your hands! It's compact, folding to as little as 3cm! It can go in your pocket, handbag or brief case.
- Help our planet to stay GREEN by reusing your coffee cup and SAVE 0.25p everytime you bring your own cup to STARBUCKS.