Eco-Friendly Disposable Cups?

In 1994 Chemistry Professor Martin B Hocking undertook a study of disposable and reusable cups and their environmental benefits. Professor Hocking tested polystyrene cups, paper cups, glass and ceramic cups to find out which cups were the most energy efficient when produced and used. The study's findings were somewhat surprising - paper and polystyrene cups were found to be the most energy-friendly options. To produce a ceramic cup, up to 1006 times more energy is required than to produce polystyrene cups. The energy consumption used for ceramic cups is also larger due to the fact that the ceramic cups need to be washed between each use and the polystyrene cup can be recycled. In other words, the energy savings that you think you would get from reusing ceramic cups is never realized when compared to paper or polystyrene cups. The difference between glass cups and paper cups is less extreme, with the glass cup only taking 15 uses to match the energy consumed by the paper cup. Thus, if you use a glass cup more than 15 times, you can begin to conserve energy (compared to using a new paper cup each time). This study undertaken by Professor Hocking should make us realize the environmental benefits of reusable products such as reusable shopping bags, cups and reusable containers, but should also force us to question the choices we make when choosing the materials that reusable products are made of.

Production energy is an important factor to be considered when producing disposable or reusable cups and their overall environmental impact. There are other factors that also need to be considered in the production process, such as water disposal, possible toxins that the factories may release, how the factories obtain their materials for production to have environmental sustainability, and the end-life of each product. Polystyrene is not a recyclable product and can take years to breakdown in the environment. Paper cups are recyclable and breakdown faster, yet the factories that produce paper cups release high amounts of toxic effluents, their water use is high, and deforestation occurs due to the need of paper for production. Plastic cups are both recyclable and disposable, yet they require petroleum to produce, which is a non-renewable resource that can have terrible impacts on the environment, especially through spills and contamination that can harm our wildlife, soil, and air quality.

When it comes to choosing which environmentally sound products that we should use, we need to compare the items case by case. Are recyclable products best? What about reusable products like reusable grocery bags? Or are there cases where it is actually best to use a disposable product? As the cup example points out, you need to take into account the amount of energy and greenhouse gas emissions used to create the product AND continue using it versus using a disposable product. For example, even though stainless steel mugs rely on recycled materials, the damage they cause to the environment over their entire lifespan is greater then the ceramic mug. And, in nearly all cases, a glass cup is even more environmentally friendly. In most cases, purchasing reusable products will be better for our environment than continuing to use disposable products - especially those that consume finite resources like plastic cups and grocery bags. Another way to have a big impact is to look for items that are second hand or if you choose to buy new, make sure that the item is made from as many recycled parts as possible to reduce our environmental impact.