It is hard to find a person who doesn’t like coffee, whether a creamy latte or a bitter espresso. With the fast pace of our world, a lot of people prefer ordering coffee to-go, but many of them don’t know how much waste disposable coffee cups produce.
You have probably heard about the trend on reusable coffee cups, but many consider these items as only fashionable showing-off bought for taking photos. However, reusable containers are much more useful and beneficial than you might think. Here are five reasons why you need to buy a reusable coffee cup without delay.
It is surprising how much we can achieve by change so little”, comments zero-waste recycling guide Antonia Ko. “All we need is a small set of principles and habits focused on preventing most forms of trash or leftovers entering your bin. When you actually dive into it, you can encourage, rethink, and redesign the life cycles of so many resources so humanity can reuse most if not all products”, she adds.
Your Coffee Stays Hot for Several Hours
Most reusable coffee cups available on the market allow keeping the temperature of your drink. In contrast to takeaway cups that get cold even before you enter your office or cross the street, reusable cups can keep your coffee moderately hot for a pretty long time.
As, on average, the temperature of latte or cappuccino is about 160°F, you can expect it to stay warm for an hour for sure. If your cup is made of thick glass, you can leave your drink even for a couple of hours.
On the other side, disposable cups don’t protect your hands from hot drinks inside, either. By having a reusable coffee cup, you will forget about such a problem. Most models have silicon or wooden sleeves that protect your hands from hot liquids inside the cup.
No More Leakage and Spills
We all know what weak protection takeaway cups offer. Although they seem sealed, with only one opening for a mouth, it is easy to spill some coffee on yourself when trying to take a sip. Many reusable coffee cups allow closing the drinking opening so that you can walk on streets holding the cup comfortably or put it in your bag without worries.
Moreover, usually, reusable cups have a sleek design and don’t consist of many parts. It is only a cup, a cover, and a holder. While disposable cups usually have a separate glued bottom that may result in leakages of coffee and stained clothes, reusable ones were made as whole items with the convenience of coffee lovers in mind. Thus, they can be considered splash-proof and extremely useful for people who are always on the go.
Discounts in Coffee Shops & Other Saving
Many coffee shops, including global coffee chains such as Starbucks, offer discounts to the coffee fans that bring their reusable cups. It may sound like some cents saved, but within a year, you can actually save from $100 to $200, depending on how often you order coffee to go.
Moreover, by making yourself a cup of coffee at home and pouring it in the reusable cup, you can save even more on your morning coffee. Take your coffee from home instead of buying a pricey one in a coffee shop on the way to work, and you will save even thousands of dollars if you drink it daily.
Reduced Environmental Impact
According to Wired, in the long-term run, reusable coffee cups proved to contribute to reducing one’s environmental impact. The point is to use such an item as many times as possible and be smart about washing it. Instead of cleaning the reusable cup only, it is better to do a full load of dishes at once.
Also, disposable items form most of the plastic found in the ocean, with takeaway cups being the main ones. Therefore, by using a reusable coffee cup, you save the world hundreds of plastic cups and spoons yearly.
You may wonder, are paper coffee cups that bad for the environment? Unfortunately, they are not pure paper. All “paper” takeaway cups have a thin plastic lining for preventing coffee leaking. Thus, such cups can be processed in standard paper recycling mills and get accumulated in landfills, polluting the environment.
Most of the reusable coffee cups are made recyclable, with non-toxic materials, and BPA-free. Thus, you are assured of not only taking care of the environment but yourself. And even those items that are not biodegradable prove to be more environment-friendly in the long term, as you use one cup for many drinks and don’t throw it away after finishing your coffee.
A Stylish Items That Will Soon Become a Must-Have One
Disposable coffee cups have become such a huge problem and polluting source that governments of some states and even countries implement regulations regarding coffee to go. For instance, some insist on making coffee enthusiasts pay more for a single-use cup to-go, and this rule is already working in some coffee shops and areas. Others argue about the elimination of disposable coffee cups at all, the same as with plastic bags and other single-use items.
Although we can’t say for sure which laws will be adopted in the future, the fact that disposable coffee cups will be prohibited is undoubtful. Thus, if you want to be able to drink coffee not only at home or sitting in a café, it is worth getting yourself a high-quality reusable container and enjoy coffee anywhere. Thanks to the variety of sizes and colors of such reusable cups available on the market, one can choose the item to their liking.
Final Thoughts
As you can see, reusable coffee cups are the future. Nowadays, more and more coffee enthusiasts get themselves such reusable solutions for many reasons, including the mentioned above. From saving on a morning coffee to the comfortability of use, people stress out the benefits of owning a nice many-use cups.
As seen on GiftWits, such coffee cups are extremely useful. It is possible to find a splash-proof, BPA-free item of your favorite color that will serve you for many months and even years. This way, you will cut down expenses and waste produced by disposable cups.
If you haven’t got yourself a reusable coffee cup yet, here is a sign to pick one without delay. Choose the item according to your preferences and enjoy your coffee wherever you are.
