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Coffee Cups Are Next

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Re: Coffee Cups Are Next

#231

Post by cstrat »

bsaul wrote: post #223
cstrat wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This just hurts to read... It is almost as bad as the somewhat inexplicable growth in bottled water in places where tap water is perfectly acceptable. In fact many of the branded bottles of water are not spring water but bottled tap water.

this story i keep hearing about tap water beeing just as good as bottle one is really starting to get on my nerves. people don’t spend their money and carry huge loads of water bottles if they can have the equivalent for « free » at home. If they do it’s because the tap water infrastructure (as a whole, up to the kitchen’s tap) alter the taste and quality of the water badly enough, even in the cases where the origina…

Fair enough that not all tap water is created equally. I live in Australia (Sydney) and tap water tastes fine to most (obviously a very subjective thing).

To be honest, the argument for bottled water (I incorrectly thought) was more due to the convenience factor rather the taste. Clearly there are other points to consider.

Re: Coffee Cups Are Next

#232

Post by shard972 »

cstrat wrote: post #231
bsaul wrote: post #223

Earlier quoted context omitted.

this story i keep hearing about tap water beeing just as good as bottle one is really starting to get on my nerves. people don’t spend their money and carry huge loads of water bottles if they can have the equivalent for « free » at home. If they do it’s because the tap water infrastructure (as a whole, up to the kitchen’s tap) alter the taste and quality of the water badly enough, even in the cases where the origina…

Fair enough that not all tap water is created equally. I live in Australia (Sydney) and tap water tastes fine to most (obviously a very subjective thing). To be honest, the argument for bottled water (I incorrectly thought) was more due to the convenience factor rather the taste. Clearly there are other points to consider.

Then you don't live in perth where their water is measurably different to east coast water just by it's unusually high alkaline.

Re: Coffee Cups Are Next

#233

Post by acchow »

01100011 wrote: post #179
satori99 wrote: post #96

A former workplace of mine mandated that no-one was allowed to use re-usable coffee mugs at all. This was done because of the mass of dirty, moldy cups that seemed to fill every kitchenette in a multi-floor building. The business was a media organization and it seemed to me like reporters were the worst culprits. The company provided styrofoam cups which were consumed at a enormous rate, and this was deemed to be a b…

What's wrong with styrofoam, assuming it is disposed of properly? Does it cause problems when tossed into a landfill? I think styrofoam is actually pretty good, per unit of source material, because it is expanded so much.

Styrofoam essentially lasts forever. The planet has finite landfill space.

Also, not everything ends up in the landfill but ends up polluting our oceans instead. Unlike paper which will eventually decompose in the ocean, styrofoam will just pile up.

Re: Coffee Cups Are Next

#234

Post by kristopolous »

chrisco255 wrote: post #199
megaremote wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They are still a huge waste, even if they are biodegradable.

Biodegradable materials get reabsorbed by the environment by definition. They're also recycleable. For instance, cardboard breaks down within two months.

And how were they sourced? How were they manufactured? How did they get to the point of consumption? How were they packaged when they arrived? How do they get to the garbage site?

You have to include all the steps of how it got from tree to your hand and your hand back into the Earth. There's still plenty of pollution in that process even if the object itself isn't part of it.

Re: Coffee Cups Are Next

#235

Post by woodpanel »

partiallypro wrote: post #146
mirajshah wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Dry pasta likely cannot be made to hold up to a hot beverage though, can it?

It also undoubtedly alters the taste

Now that you're saying it:

20 yrs from now, I can see an greenwashing-ad of artisan/craft macaroni where ecological considerates up-cycle used macaroni-straws exactly this way. They will have counter-cultural names (unless labeling upcycled garbage for what it is becomes counter cultural). There will be media enchantment all the way (until bankruptcy), everybody yearns for a solution to the threat that too much noodles in the ocean pose to fish.

Re: Coffee Cups Are Next

#236

Post by omegabravo »

wemdyjreichert wrote: post #129
baroffoos wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One slightly worse but standard charger is a better situation than loads of incompatible chargers especially when you consider environmental impact. My main concern would be avoiding blocking progress where a new standard is built which is better but we can't move over to it because of regulation.

That's only true of you prioritize minimization of e-waste over personal convenience, which most (including me) do not. The regulation delay is exactly the problem: had politicians standardized micro-usb, we would still be on it rather than usb-c.

In Australia, the laws refer to the Australian Standards (ie. AS3000 for the electrical code). These are updated as necessary with out an act of parliament.

Regulation delay is a feature here, as we don't need a new standard every couple of years.

Re: Coffee Cups Are Next

#237

Post by rjf72 »

cstrat wrote: post #125
satori99 wrote: post #96

A former workplace of mine mandated that no-one was allowed to use re-usable coffee mugs at all. This was done because of the mass of dirty, moldy cups that seemed to fill every kitchenette in a multi-floor building. The business was a media organization and it seemed to me like reporters were the worst culprits. The company provided styrofoam cups which were consumed at a enormous rate, and this was deemed to be a b…

This just hurts to read... It is almost as bad as the somewhat inexplicable growth in bottled water in places where tap water is perfectly acceptable. In fact many of the branded bottles of water are not spring water but bottled tap water.

To take things from a different perspective, I find people judging what others ought consider acceptable to be inexplicable.

I find people buying $200 sneakers that offer no significant performance improvement over much cheaper alternatives to be 'inexplicable.' I find people buying $1000 phones when a $200 phone would perform literally 100% of a purchaser's tasks to 100% acceptability, to be 'inexplicable'. I even find people buying new cars 'inexplicable' given their hyper-depreciation - meaning a lightly used car is generally a vastly better value.

Of course I put 'inexplicable' in single quotes because these things are all completely explicable. Personal choice is a right of every person in a free society, and people have different views and values. And my examples understate the relevance of this as this choice is far more significant, and frequently personal, when it comes to what people consume than whatever stuff people buy for image crafting.

Re: Coffee Cups Are Next

#238

Post by antris »

satori99 wrote: post #96

A former workplace of mine mandated that no-one was allowed to use re-usable coffee mugs at all. This was done because of the mass of dirty, moldy cups that seemed to fill every kitchenette in a multi-floor building. The business was a media organization and it seemed to me like reporters were the worst culprits. The company provided styrofoam cups which were consumed at a enormous rate, and this was deemed to be a b…

This is a very logical result when there's no tax related to the environmental effect.

Doing this should be so expensive that the option wouldn't be considered. Or then they do it anyway and pay huge taxes for it, paying their share of the recycling / cleaning up.

Re: Coffee Cups Are Next

#239

Post by 9HZZRfNlpR »

partiallypro wrote: post #144
satori99 wrote: post #96

A former workplace of mine mandated that no-one was allowed to use re-usable coffee mugs at all. This was done because of the mass of dirty, moldy cups that seemed to fill every kitchenette in a multi-floor building. The business was a media organization and it seemed to me like reporters were the worst culprits. The company provided styrofoam cups which were consumed at a enormous rate, and this was deemed to be a b…

This same thing is unfolding in my office. They are getting rid of paper cups but no one washes their dishes. I don't understand what's wrong with paper cups? They are biodegradable.

They don't if there's no recycling going on in your area. As the article writes if it goes to landfill, it gets packed tightly together. Without oxygen it doesn't matter what is it made of.

Re: Coffee Cups Are Next

#240

Post by omegabravo »

megaremote wrote: post #157
colordrops wrote: post #151

I'm curious what percentage of non-biodegradable waste is from cups and straws. I suspect there are much bigger fish to fry. It would be a bit more work and coordination but it seems that a standard set of 30-50 different metal/ceramic containers could serve most packaging purposes at grocery stores. If marketing/branding is an issue, some soy or other non-toxic ink could be used to print labels and decoration on the…

It is not always about the biggest, but easiest to replace. When getting people to do something they do not want to do, that is what you aim for. Also doing what is possible, as to the impossible.

Generally in Australia, environmental initiatives are welcomed. We have sorted waste bins, banned plastic bags, banned single use straws, and recently coffee cups have been a source of attention. I don't have any figures, but every person I work with has a reusable coffee cup. Keep Cups [1] are a very popular option. Unfortunately a portion of the population resist any sort of change, which is rather natural I guess. Change is hard and the youth in this country are typically setting a good example.

A documentary called The War On Waste [2] had a very convincing show on Coffee Cups. This has had a decent impact on the population from my perspective.

The mindset change is probably worth while if this thread is anything to go by. I was rather surprised that there are so many negative comments in this thread. There has been an obvious and substantial shift towards being mindful of your impact on the environment in Australia which is very welcoming.

This scene from Mad Men (57sec) [3] shows how previous habits are no longer acceptable behaviour.

[1] https://keepcup.com/

[2] https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/the-chaser...

[3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDIvzDGBLWU

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