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Coffee Cups Are Next

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Re: Coffee Cups Are Next

#261

Post by neuronic »

bArray wrote: post #112
pg_bot wrote: post #55

If you don't think the people who work at these companies care about making better cups, read the following article.[0] There is a big opportunity for making a better disposable cup, but there are many engineering hurdles to jump over. - The cup has to retail for 17 cents. - It has to support a lid that is resealable. - It has to tip over and not spill. - It has to handle high temperatures. - It can't alter the taste…

> - The cup has to retail for 17 cents. Like plastic bags in supermarkets, can't one just put the onus on the customer to pay the cost of the container if they don't bring their own?

Their needs to be a penalty. Another 17 cents on my coffee just dont mean anything when I buy a $4,50 coffee at Starbucks.... (I usually dont buy at Starbucks, but the point stands)

Re: Coffee Cups Are Next

#262

Post by jillesvangurp »

seer wrote: post #216

I always feel weird reading all the drama regarding waste management in US. Of all countries I would have thought they would understand market economics the most. If cleaning up waste is an externality, can’t you add in the price of that cleaning into the thing itself, thus doing that would be an economic activity in and off itself. For example a plastic cup costs 1c to produce, but 1 dollar to clean up. Well can’t y…

Yes, Germany has deposits on bottles and cans. E.g. small plastic coke bottles will have something like a 15c deposit. People tend to leave them around for homeless people to collect when they are on the go. It's a nice thing to do. All super markets have collection points where you get your deposit back as a receipt that you can cash in when paying for your groceries. The system works pretty well and it's pretty common for homeless people to show up there with bags full of bottles that they've collected.

They have another system at big beer festivals and beer gardens where people prefer to drink their beverages in glasses. Beer in plastic cups is just not acceptable here. These glasses have a deposit as well and you swap them for a clean and full one when you get a new drink and when you are done you get your deposit back when you return the glass.

This could work for coffee cups too. Just charge a dollar or so for a proper mug and simply put them in the dishwasher when people return them and give them a clean one. Only charge the deposit when they don't return one. Drinking from a proper mug is a superior drinking experience in any case.

Re: Coffee Cups Are Next

#263

Post by scotty79 »

Stratoscope wrote: post #214
verelo wrote: post #176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"It is so unsanitary." Is it really that bad? As in, so bad it justifies the amount of waste the alternatives produce? I'm sure it's not the worst thing you deal with on a daily basis i.e. door handles are pretty gross.

> door handles are pretty gross. Indeed they are. I am probably weird, but when I walk into our building I have a paper towel in my hand to grab the door handle. In fact there are two door handles, one from the parking lot and one into the building, so I use one side of the paper towel first, then fold it in half with a clean side on the outside and use that for the building door handle. Similarly at the cafeteria. I…

I applaud your diligence. I'm trying to do what you are doing and fail tertibly. I pretty much get cold (in the cold season) each time I'm going to get groceries or eat at Ikea.

Re: Coffee Cups Are Next

#264

Post by peterbraden »

gambiting wrote: post #256
collyw wrote: post #254

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They do. In Scotland the tap water is really good (unlike where I live now). There are still large sections of the supermarket with bottled water.

Pretty much anywhere you go outside of larger cities in Scotland(if you like outdoorsy stuff like I do) has warnings that tap water is supplied directly from the nearest stream/river/lake and is unsafe to drink untreated. I'm perfectly happy to drink tap water nearly anywhere in the UK but any time we go camping in Scotland bottled water is a must because safe tap water is a rarity.

This is nonsense, I grew up in Scotland and travelled widely and I’ve never seen such a notice.

Re: Coffee Cups Are Next

#265

Post by bubblewrap »

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…

I'd like to implement some sort of RFID system where workers have to check out coffee mugs with their phones and can be held responsible if they don't end up in the dishwasher (or better, be rewarded if they end up in the dishwasher) :-)

Re: Coffee Cups Are Next

#266

Post by cmroanirgo »

In my country (oz) there's been a general trend toward byo cups, mainly pushed through via a brand: keep cup [0]. To my knowledge it started several years ago in Melbourne and spread to the other cities. Many coffee shops these days have either keep cups, white labelled keep cups, or other style. Now that baristas are used to it, it's less of a hassle for them and is pretty much accepted in lots of places. In my area, maybe one in 5 customers bring their own... Many shops also give a discount for byo because their cost of a cup is gone.

[0] https://au.keepcup.com/

Re: Coffee Cups Are Next

#267

Post by masklinn »

tgsovlerkhgsel wrote: post #103
wemdyjreichert wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As far as I'm aware, the most the EU has done is look closely at doing it (most recently in 2018). One could argue that Lightning ports are better (particularly when compared to micro usb), and Apple seems to be slowly switching to usb-c. A standard charger would a. prohibit fast charging technologies or b. "pick the winner" with respect to such technologies. It would almost certainly slow or halt the use of newer fa…

> what a bad idea the phone charger thing was The correct approach there would have been telling the industry to get their shit together and agree on one standard (and then mandate that, not "that or an adapter" like what they let Apple get away with), under the threat that otherwise they'll make a standard for them.

That's… exactly what the EU did, minus the legal mandate or adapter ban steps?

> In June 2009, many of the world's largest mobile phone manufacturers signed an EC-sponsored memorandum of understanding (MoU), agreeing to make most new data-enabled mobile phones marketed in the European Union compatible with a to-be-specified common EPS. All signatories agreed to develop a common specification for the EPS "to allow for full compatibility and safety of chargers and mobile phones."

> […]

> The original Common EPS memorandum of understanding expired at the end of 2012. The Commission reported at the time that all of the fourteen MoU signatories, "have met their obligations under the MoU." Eight of the original MoU signatories signed a 2013 Letter of Intent (LoI) to extend the 2009 MoU another year and, in 2014, five of those companies (Apple, Blackberry, Huawei, Samsung and Sony) again signed a second Letter of Intent, effectively extending the MoU through the end of 2014.

Re: Coffee Cups Are Next

#268

Post by xondono »

GuB-42 wrote: post #91
DoreenMichele wrote: post #8

First they came for plastic bags. Then they came for straws. Coffee cups are next. Straws are a hot button topic in disabled circles.

I went to a cocktail bar that used dry pasta. Some kind of very long macaroni. Genius. It works perfectly and even holds up longer than a paper straw. And not only it is biodegradable, it is also edible.

And it's 100% a problem for people with coeliac disease

Re: Coffee Cups Are Next

#269

Post by corodra »

Dylan16807 wrote: post #37
corodra wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Floridan here. All coastal bars/restaurants must have paper straws. Generally, they're single drink use. You might get a second glass worth if you drink fast. I don't really notice a wax on them. If they happen to have any.... they might as well not bother. I'm a born/raised Floridian, so I grew up on all the propaganda about ocean life getting tortured by soda rings, straws and other garbage. One of my transplant fr…

What's the chance of it getting to the ocean when I'm properly throwing it away? Also they apparently all use photo-degradable plastic since 30 years ago.

Forgot to mention: seagulls. I’m guessing other birds too, but seagulls mostly pick trash from landfills and carry it around. Especially the soda rings if it gets caught around their neck.

Re: Coffee Cups Are Next

#270

Post by wink »

cf498 wrote: post #229
marcus_holmes wrote: post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I bought mulled red wine (gluewine sp?) in a christmas market in Germany this last winter. They sell you a proper coffee-type-mug to drink it from, for 6 euros (about US$7), which you can return when you're done and they'll refund you. I kept mine, it's a nice souvenir of Cologne and I drink my coffee from it every morning :) If you had to pay, say $10 for a proper coffee mug to have your take-away coffee in, but the…

They most of the time dont actually sell those mugs, the 6€ are a deposit.

Depends where exactly you are, I'd wager 50% of them are currently officially "take it as deposit or as buying" because they're often styled for the specific christmas market and vary from year to year. Not sure why people would collect those, but to each their own.
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