All About Cups

How do you like your coffee? Personally, my drink of choice is a café mocha, decaf, soy, no whip. Think of all the times you have gone to a Starbucks, Panera, Caribou Coffee, etc.: how often have them given you your hot java in a disposable cup? Out of those times, how many did you intend to have your coffee right there?

After thinking about all the cups that get tossed in the landfill daily, I began to become more proactive. When I go to a coffee house and know I plan to drink it there, I will request my beverage in a reusable mug. They do actually have mugs! Of course, they will have more work of washing the mugs, and washing takes water, but recycling takes tons of water and other resources. Better yet, I believe they will often fill your own take-and-go container. No hassle for them.

To take it a step further, I now also request a plastic (versus paper) cup for my cold drink when I go to chains like Panera and Noodles & Company. Again, if you take a look around any of these places, people are sipping away on their drinks, only to toss the paper cup in a trash can where it will sit for who knows how long. Not all places have plastic cups, as I have learned. But, regardless, I will sit, working away on my novel, while drinking a cold glass of water in a large ceramic mug.