Disposable Coffee Cups Stop. Think about all the times you have bought a drink at a coffee shop. Now ask yourself, where did all those disposables cups you used go? Whether abandoned on a park bench or left in a garbage bin on the edge of town, disposable cups are rarely properly recycled. Most end up in landfills, the ocean, or left forgotten on the ground. This can do devastating damage to the environment. For example, are you aware that over 14 billion plastic coffee cups are used in Canada alone every year? That’s two times the population of Earth. Even worse, most of them are not recycled, and instead end up in landfills, oceans, and forests, polluting our only home: Earth. Most disposable cups are made from plastic, which is terrible enough, and the plastic lids of these cups only add to the problem. The 'paper' cups are also often lined with plastic, which cannot be separated easily. This means that despite what you might believe, most paper cups are actually non-recyclable. Disposable cups are also terrible for our health and increases the chance of getting life-threatening diseases, like cancer, especially if you use plastic cups for hot drinks. This is because hot beverages slowly melt away the plastic, and some end up in your drink. If we don’t stop abusing plastics, a future drowning in them is no more just a distant possibility, but an ever-looming tomorrow. That is why for this month, we challenge you to stop using disposable cups when shopping at coffee shops. We define disposable cups as any type of single-use cup, plastic, paper, styrofoam, or otherwise. So, the next time you go to Starbucks, tell the barista to specifically not use a disposable cup. Instead, we have a few simple solutions for you: 1. Instead of disposable coffee cups, try to use a reusable container, like a coffee mug. Most coffee shops, including Starbucks, Tim Horton’s, and David’s Tea, all accept customers to bring and use their own reusable mug, and most stores actually give you a 10-cent discount if you do! Not only are you saving money when you use a reusable mug, but you’re also saving the planet, one less disposable cup at a time. 2. Stay for a while Nowadays, everyone is constantly in a hurry. However, shouldn’t we all just slow down and stay for a while sometimes? Most coffee shops, like Tim Horton’s, offer reusable mugs for customers that have their drinks ‘for here’. So next time, instead of hurriedly grabbing a cup of coffee, just try and stay at the store for a while. 3. Forgo Buying Drinks at Coffee Shops Let’s all be honest here for a moment; is that daily cup of venti, half sweet, non-fat, caramel macchiato with two pumps of vanilla actually necessary? The answer most of the time is no. So why go through the trouble of going to a coffee shop, buying a drink, and harming the environment when you can just make them at home, or better yet, refrain from drinking that daily cup of sugar altogether? We are aware that some people go to coffee shops for their regular cup of joe instead of extravagant drinks, but a much better solution is just to make coffee at home. Quality coffee grinders and coffee brewers are both available for under thirty dollars each, and they last for practically a lifetime. Even with the price of coffee beans and coffee filters added, making coffee at home is still cheaper compared to the $2 – $5 you need to spend at coffee shops. We sincerely hope this blog has been helpful and you are able to go through the next month disposable cup-free. We also encourage you to continue this challenge, even if a month has passed.
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