Coffee Cups Are Next • Hacker News Board

Re: Coffee Cups Are Next

#281

Post by Phenix88be » Mon, Apr 29, 2019, 8:32 AM UTC

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…

You have issues...

You make your immune system weaker by avoid germs. This system need constant update and training on germs and new germs. I don't really think the immune system get weaker by aging.Also, your skin, provided that you didn't cut yourself, will protect you from almost anything.

Their is a lot more things you should worried about like sick people who still go to work. Door handle will never make you sick...

Re: Coffee Cups Are Next

#282

Post by lsc » Mon, Apr 29, 2019, 8:33 AM UTC

scotty79 wrote: post #255

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…

> 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... That's not it. People don't drink tap water because they don't believe it's safe. People who don't drink tap water usually have no trouble drinking it after it's boiled. And non carbonated bottled water tastes just like tap water and you couldn't tell the two apart if t…

I am pretty sure that you could tell the difference between a brand of water that is distilled + minerals added and a brand of water that was not distilled in a blind taste test, especially if you drink mostly water.

I think there are even pretty big differences, say, between the tap water in Santa Clara and the tap water in Milpitas, for example.

I mean, If your argument is that bottled water is wasteful, I'm not disagreeing, but I am saying that if you drink mostly water, even pretty small differences in the mineral content make detectible differences in taste.

Re: Coffee Cups Are Next

#283

Post by xondono » Mon, Apr 29, 2019, 8:37 AM UTC

chasedehan wrote: post #85

As an economist I love this. People respond to incentives and making the decision visible, not making it a tax by letting the coffee shops keep the surcharge, and making it possible to keep prices the same (including the surcharge) is frankly a well designed law/experiment.

It's certainly a surprise for a government to go this route, though I'm not that optimistic.

If I understand it correctly, it just means that the surcharge needs to appear in the price listing, so I'd assume that customers will quickly learn to filter out that from their daily lives.

Re: Coffee Cups Are Next

#284

Post by mikekchar » Mon, Apr 29, 2019, 8:44 AM UTC

fiblye wrote: post #127

mikekchar wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The problem to solve is that no one wants to carry a cup around for longer than necessary. Buy, drink, dispose. This is a cultural problem. Women carry around handbags that are jammed to the brim with junk. Men don't generally carry handbags at all. There is no place to put a cup. In Japan there are virtually no trashcans and people are culturally taught not to litter, so everybody has to carry their trash home wit…

Yet Japan is possibly the worst in the world when it comes to plastic waste. They often divide every 2 items from the convenience store into separate bags. Hell, it’s the land of individually plastic wrapped bite sized cookies served in an oversized plastic tray inside a bag with box outside of it. As an even worse real life example, if you buy a slice of cake and tell them you’ll be eating it in 5 minutes, they get…

Yep. No argument here. It's all cultural :-P The silliest thing is that plastic bags are not offered in most grocery stores now, but if you pull out your cloth bag in a combini it's a revelation :-) I'm well known in my town for being the foreigner who uses his cloth bag in the combini. Honestly, I'm certain people have them, but they are too embarrassed to use them! I keep using mine in hopes that someone else will follow suit, but it hasn't happened yet. Some day everyone will switch and it will be "Well, of course. It's obvious", but until that day, nobody will...

Re: Coffee Cups Are Next

#285

Post by Nition » Mon, Apr 29, 2019, 8:53 AM UTC

lxmorj wrote: post #177

glenngillen wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I met the founders of a Startup last month that are doing exactly that: https://www.tcx.org/

Just mobile or is there really not a single picture of the cups on their site?

This sort of thing seems to be getting more common and I don't know why. Lots of software websites without a single screenshot. Yet a photo/screenshot can often tell you more than all the text.

Re: Coffee Cups Are Next

#286

Post by fifnir » Mon, Apr 29, 2019, 8:54 AM UTC

bubblewrap wrote: post #253

kristopolous wrote: post #226

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Then put a $50 filter at the tap and you're good for probably $25,000 of bottled water. It's marketing that drives the preference. That's why most chronic bottled water drinkers I know surround their life with other bullshit irrelevant products. It's the same mechanics

Filters seem like a lot of hassle, though. You have to keep them clean and exchange them on a regular basis. I don't really trust that solution.

So what's another plastic bottle in the dump right? Someone will figure it out, as long as you don't need to deal with the hassle

Re: Coffee Cups Are Next

#287

Post by lsc » Mon, Apr 29, 2019, 8:59 AM UTC

pg_bot wrote: post #74

zeta0134 wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's worth pointing out that the obvious alternative, reusable to-go cups, need to solve an additional set of challenges: - Must NOT violate sanitization of the work area; cups provided by customers should not pose any health risks to workers or other customers. - Should be durable enough to survive repeated visits - Either the reusable cup must conform to a standard size, baristas need a way to measure liquids consi…

From what I've read the reusables have to be used ~70 times to be more environmentally friendly than the current disposables. I think the easiest win would be designating between sit down and take out customers. Sit down customers could be given porcelain or some other washable container. However this would increase labor costs for businesses so you don't automatically get a free win.

most places seem to offer ceramic for sit-down customers? I mean, maybe not starbucks; most Starbucks I've been in don't really seem to have much of a sit-down area, so "for here or to go" isn't really a question. But most nicer places have them; it seems to go with having seating.

I personally have a strong preference for ceramic (not enough to carry my own, but when I'm going to be in a place, I ask for a ceramic cup, simply because it is a more pleasurable experience than a to go cup)

Re: Coffee Cups Are Next

#288

Post by woodpanel » Mon, Apr 29, 2019, 9:00 AM UTC

lsc wrote: post #282

scotty79 wrote: post #255

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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... That's not it. People don't drink tap water because they don't believe it's safe. People who don't drink tap water usually have no trouble drinking it after it's boiled. And non carbonated bottled water tastes just like tap water and you couldn't tell the two apart if t…

I am pretty sure that you could tell the difference between a brand of water that is distilled + minerals added and a brand of water that was not distilled in a blind taste test, especially if you drink mostly water. I think there are even pretty big differences, say, between the tap water in Santa Clara and the tap water in Milpitas, for example. I mean, If your argument is that bottled water is wasteful, I'm not di…

"if you drink mostly water, even pretty small differences in the mineral content make detectible differences in taste"

absolutely. in the european cities where i lived, you could sometimes tell to which aquifer a household is connected. Depending on the neighborhood some need to clean their bathroom appliances from chalk twice as often.

Re: Coffee Cups Are Next

#289

Post by michaelt » Mon, Apr 29, 2019, 9:03 AM UTC

baroffoos wrote: post #108

pg_bot wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From what I've read the reusables have to be used ~70 times to be more environmentally friendly than the current disposables. I think the easiest win would be designating between sit down and take out customers. Sit down customers could be given porcelain or some other washable container. However this would increase labor costs for businesses so you don't automatically get a free win.

This stat gets thrown around for a lot of different kinds of reusable products but what no one ever mentions is what does environmentally friendly actually mean. When I have looked it up its always simply looking at energy usage to produce the product when by far the biggest impact of our throwaway products is that they end up blowing around the streets or they fall in to the ocean. And even if you do put them in the…

Depends on the ratio of one-time customers to regular customers.

I go to a coffee shop maybe once a year - perhaps I'm running late and didn't have time to make coffee at home, or I'm out with friends and they spontaneously suggest getting coffee.

Needless to say, I've never had a reusable mug with me in such circumstances! So customers with behaviour like mine are going to be getting a new mug every time, or not patronising coffee shops.

If one in every 70 customers is someone like me, switching to a 70-use-to-break-even cup would be a net loss for the environment even if you get 100% reuse among regular coffee shop patrons.

Re: Coffee Cups Are Next

#290

Post by ploika » Mon, Apr 29, 2019, 9:03 AM UTC

x38iq84n wrote: post #279

rorykoehler wrote: post #198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why not just sell the metal or bamboo ones everywhere? I'm pretty sure after the 10th time forgetting the extra cost will be a great reminder.

At this point we’re supposed to carry the following non-disposable items with us, or pay at every step during the day: - shopping bags - coffee cup - water bottle - straws Who wants to carry all this garbage? Nobody. Give us all a break.

It's ironic that you're calling non-disposable items garbage.

Genuine question, because everyone's life is different, is it really that big a deal?

I bring shopping bags with me when I go grocery shopping. They're more comfortable to carry than the disposable plastic ones. Often they just lie in the boot of the car where they don't take up much space. The backpack I bring to work is big enough to fit the handful of things I might buy on the way home.

I have a resuable coffee cup and water bottle on my desk at work, and I much prefer them to the disposable versions. Occasionally I buy a bottle of water or a coffee in a disposable cup, but whatever, I've still massively reduced the waste I produce from these things. Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good.