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Kill the Cardboard Cup has moved!

Check out our new blog address at http://killthecardboardcup.com/blog/.

Thanks!

Donate to WWF AND get a cute reusable cup!

Donate to a good cause and get this cup!

This eco-friendly thermal porcelain cup holds 14 ounces of your favorite beverage and is dishwasher and microwave safe. Cup features a leaf print design, and includes the WWF panda logo on one side and "We seek to save a planet, a world of life" quote on the other. The silicone band surrounding the cup protects your hand from hot or cold beverages. Look eco-chic while helping reduce wasteful consumption of throwaway cups. Take this with you the next time you make your coffee run!

Learn more about the WWF at www.worldwildlife.org.

The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

Earth Day Festivities took place around the globe last week. In New York City, the Earth Fair was hosted outside of Grand Central Station.

I stopped by the EPA's booth and snapped this photo:

Good to see that the EPA is supporting an end to the Cardboard Cup! Do you have your reusable mug yet?

Mug Hugs

Want to drink from a reusable cup, but worried about spilling your hot coffee all over you?

Fear no more, Mug Hugs are here!

Mug Hug is a reusable, flexible lid designed to fit medium sized mhttp://www.mug-hug.comugs. They had two purposes in mind when creating this product. First, to prevent spilling for mugs on the go for convenience. Second, to reduce the use of disposable paper cups and plastic lids that are filling up landfills around the globe.

Mug Hug is ideal for the office, commute, and for the home. Not only does it prevent spilling, but it keeps your drink warmer too!

Disposable - The Billion Cup Blood Bath

A coworker passed this video on to me.

Gets the point across.


Disposable - The Billion Cup Blood Bath from Zac Whyte on Vimeo.

Mona Lisa Coffee Cups

A much more creative way to use coffee cups...



Unfortunately, I don't think any of the cups in this video were reused, but if you're going to use a disposable cup, at least think of creative uses for it after (or before) your coffee is done...

Source: Mona latte: Da Vinci's Lisa masterpiece recreated using cups of coffee, Daily Mail (UK)

Cardboard v. Styrofoam v. Ceramic

Cute cartoon, read the blog post at NOVA - The Big Energy Gamble.

Starbucks Summit on Recyclability of Cups

Last year, Starbucks CEO Howard Schults committed that Starbucks' entire stock of coffe cups will be recyclable by 2012.

Starbucks'vice president of Global Responsibility, Ben Packard, invited 30 cup, cupstock and coating manufacturers, recyclers, waste managers and university researchers to Seattle this week to discuss creating recyclable coffee cups.

Some of the research presented showed that many of the cups are already recyclable to recover paper pulp. In fact, a coffee cup can be converted into a pizza box in just three days.

Starbucks is looking to implement a pilot program in Manhattan in which specialized bins will be placed to collect cups and paper bags, which will then be sent to Staten Island’s Pratt Industries for recycling.

The key to recyclability of paper cups is their material, as some (such as Starbucks’) are made of old corrugated cardboard (OCC), and others are mixed paper.

Mixed paper is a lower grade of paper that has less value when recycled. Although many of these cups are lined with wax for temperature control, this can be removed prior to recycling.

Panelists discussed the possibility of better labeling for these cups in regards to recyclability, with one suggesting that compostable cups be labeled with a brown stripe. North America is responsible for 60 percent of the 220 billion paper cups used globally each year.

Source: Reuters, earth911.com

The Photographer's Reusable Cup

Finally, a reusable cup for the photographer!

7-11's reusable cups!

Get a reusable cup at 7-11 and a free coffee.

Contigo's No-Spill Beverageware

Contigo developed the AUTOSEAL technology, which automatically seals between sips, and has integrated the exclusive lid system into a line of travel mugs and bottles. The Contigo AUTOSEAL line of products are all FDA approved and BPA free.

"Now more than ever, people are trying to find ways to save money," Sami Elsaden, CEO of Contigo said. "By forgoing a daily stop at a coffee shop, consumers can save up to $2,000 a year as well as reduce the use of Styrofoam and cardboard cups, which is ultimately good for the environment."

UNBC Green Day

Watch a video on how the University of Northern BC is celebrating Green Day by focusing on waste reduction. The Green Day organizers have adorned the ceilings with used disposable coffee cups from waste audits showing how there is too much waste.







Link

C2C-coffee cup

C2C coffee cup takes the concept of cradle-to-cradle and applies it to the design of a coffee cup. The design team chose the disposable paper cup; the ‘C2C’ coffee cup is manufactured at the cafe from the waste stream of the cafe. Used coffee grounds are mixed with paper pulp and a polylactide resin (made from corn derived dextrose), then pressure-molded into shape.

The physical design itself originated from the wish of providing not only a directional feature to the cup, but also to provide a friendlier shape and more secure grip. C2C is fully biodegradable with its final elements being 100% compostable. Manufacturing of C2C provides for an animated feature in a cafe, since most of the process will be visible.

Thus the grounds used for "your" drink would make up "your" cup. However, "your" cup grounds content will actually be from someone else's brew, since there will be a certain cycle delay, when taking mixing, forming, drying, and cooling into consideration. But technically, one brew makes its own cup.

67 spun copper cups

Vancouver Art Gallery's new exhibit, How Soon is Now: Contemporary Art from Here, brings together 34 British Columbia artists working in sculpture, painting, video, audio, architectural interventions, site-specific projects, performances and events.

The exhibit features the above piece by Sonny Assu called ,67 spun copper cups, grande size. Art takes on the disposable cup yet again.

410,000 cups every 15 Minutes

Photographer Chris Jordan uses photography to illustrate the staggering scale of human consumption. In this series of pictures titled Paper Cups he depicts 410,000 paper cups - equal to the number of disposable hot-beverage paper cups used in the US every fifteen minutes.

Pretty shocking and appalling.



Partial zoom:


Detail at actual print size:

Disposable coffee cups kill trees!

greenUpgrader has an article The Scourge of the Forest: Disposable Coffee Cups.

Read the article for more information on the damage caused by disposable cups and some good visuals.

Reach for the Top of the Tower

Recycling drive proves tall order

Since November, Lisa Wilson at Brock University's Science Stores has crossed paths with 36,592 paper coffee cups, which, when stacked, measure the height of 7.3 Schmon Towers, or about 370 metres.

It is hoped to encourage the proper disposal of these plastic cups, across campus, even after this initiative ends.

"Some of our goals are first, teach people to separate the lids, [which are] plastic recycling, from the cups, [which are] compostable." said Wilson

"The second, diverting 'good' garbage from the landfill and lastly, I'm hoping that the visual effect of actually reaching the top of the tower might encourage people to switch to refillable mugs.

"Once the challenge is finished, there will be bins [around the school] with vinyl identification on them, so hopefully it will continue."

Strange to Meet You

A clip from the film that is (partly) about reusable cups (except the last skit). ;)



Coffee and Cigarettes, a film by Jim Jarmusch.

Modern life is rubbish

Modern life is rubbish: litter is everywhere on Dorset streets

An article on litter in the streets with a shot of another abandoned cardboard cup...

London Coffee Cups

Fast food firms taken to task after survey of street litter

Keep Britain Tidy named the most littered brands in England as McDonald's, Greggs, KFC and Subway. While types of litter around the country varied, in London coffee cups from a mixture of brands accounted for most litter.

Pledge to Kill the Cardboard Cup and keep your city streets clean of unnecessary waste.