Did you know that the paper coffee, soup and ice cream cups are lined with plastic?
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Anonymous
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HAPPY EARTH DAY!
The paper cups are not good for the Earth, are they good for our health? They are not recyclable, they have to go to the land field, ever wondered why? Because they are lined with plastic. The same plastic that most of us frawn upon and got rid of homes long ago as much as possible, in the form of toys, food containers and plastic bags. So what about drinking and eating hot stuff from them? It is not something we think about while we grab the coffee or soup on the go. However maybe we should as those things not only contribute to the waste and pollution and affect the global warming but also it is good to know what comes in contact with our hot beverages. I assume not as big problem if the substance is cold. This is really concerning: "In the US, over 50 billion paper cups are tossed in the trash and end up in a landfill every year. (Source: Int J Life Cycle Assessment). Our neighbors to the north throw out over 1.6 billion disposable coffee cups every year (Source: CBC), and in the U.K., 2.5 billion coffee cups a year get landfilled (Source: Independent). Can’t paper cups be recycled like other paper products? In almost all communities, the answer is no. That’s because paper cups need a plastic lining to be waterproof, and that lining is polyethylene made from petroleum. Over 231,000 barrels of petroleum are needed to line the paper cups. Lined with plastic, the paper cup is no longer as simple to recycle as office paper. Only 18 of the largest 100 U.S. cities accept coffee cups in their recycling programs. And only three paper recycling mills in the U.S. can process plastic-coated paper (Source: Stand.earth). Sending our paper cups abroad for recycling is also not an option. In 2017, Asian recyclers began restricting the materials they accept, only importing paper that is clean and dry. In response, communities are limiting what items are allowed in the recycling bin (Source: OPB). As a society we need to stop believing that paper cups are getting recycled, either here in the US or abroad. https://www.worldcentric.com/notree/#:~:text=In%20almost%20all%20communities%2C%20the,is%20polyethylene%20made%20from%20petroleum.&text=Only%2018%20of%20the%20largest,cups%20in%20their%20recycling%20programs. HAPPY EARTHDAY EVERYBODY! |
Anonymous
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It's that kinda a known fact? Common knowledge?
If the cups were truly 100% cardboard/paper than coffee/soups/icecream would bleed right through. |
Anonymous
| Happy Earth Day to you too. |
Anonymous
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Yep I did. So are most canned goods.
But paper is hardly universally the solution, it is heavy and fragile in many use cases, so we double bag our groceries and they burn more fossil fuel being delivered b Reduce and reuse is key, but our pace of our lives are not set up for that, you essentially need a stay at home parent to manage the house (cook from scratch and fresh ingredients, clean all those reusable mugs, launder grocery bags, etc etc). |
Anonymous
| I did. You didn't know this OP? Have you ever actually looked inside a paper cup, bowl, or aluminum can? |
Anonymous
Agree. One parent at home running an ecological household is the way to go! |
Anonymous
This. This is why reusable ( ceramic, glass, metal) are better. |
Anonymous
| I wish I could find a to go coffee mug I like. I hate how coffee tastes out of stainless steel and the ceramic ones I’ve seen are so large. Any recs, something 12oz or less |
Anonymous
| Yes. It's why I use reusable (glass, stainless steel) and try to make as much at home as I can. |