Did you know that 500 billion disposable cups are produced globally each year?
These cups are generally made from paper that has been treated and coated in plastic, so commonly end up in landfill!
Paper, of course, comes from trees. The planet goes through 300 billion tonnes of paper each year, with 98 tonnes of resources being used to produce 1 tonne of paper. Worst of all? 71% of paper comes from diminishing forests - and diminishing forests means a loss of animal habitats for a start!
So with that impact, why would anyone use paper cups for coffee?
I switched to using the KeepCup, which let's you design your own colour scheme (perfect for personalising gifts!) a couple of years back and haven't looked back. The KeepCup claims that "compared to a disposable paper cup (including coffee) sees a: 36-47% reduction in global warming carbon emissions, 64-85% reduction in water use, 91-92% reduction in landfill waste annually." That's massive!
The best part is often cafes give a 50c discount on coffee if you bring a reusable cup, so you quickly make your money back (especially if you, like me, drink upwards of one cup a day).
All information above has been taken directly from KeepCup website - www.keepcup.com although reusable cups are easy to find anywhere!
I also use one of these cups, another simple to change thing which helps the planet :)
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