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Coffee Cups Are Next

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Re: Coffee Cups Are Next

#291

Post by Marazan »

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.

That's bollocks.

Re: Coffee Cups Are Next

#292

Post by notyourwork »

saiya-jin wrote: post #278
scotty79 wrote: post #243

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My office had a lot of ceramic cups that were taken by employees from the cabinet, used and left wherever in the kitchenette. There was one dedicated employee whose main job was to gather the cups and put them in the dishwasher and after they are cleaned, put them back in the cabinet. Dishwasher ran constantly and that employee kept kitchenette neat in between of cup handling. I think there were even two dishwashers…

these kind of jobs are cut first when troubles come to the company... and so everybody literally feels we're in trouble

There’s always a first to cut job in every business.

Re: Coffee Cups Are Next

#293

Post by Freak_NL »

marcus_holmes wrote: post #172
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…

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…

Spelling: Glühwein.

There is a catch though. Those mugs either stay near the stand they were sold from, or are taken as souvenirs. This works just fine.

With buying coffee on the go, people would take their mug along with them to wherever they are going, and you would have to hand it back the next time you visited that particular coffee shop or one of the same franchise. The risk of the mug getting damaged is much higher, and it is not nearly as convenient to carry a dirty mug around as it is to dispose of a used paper cup.

A lot would have to chance for such a system to work. Customer mentalities being one aspect.

Re: Coffee Cups Are Next

#294

Post by carlob »

As a European I really don't get take-out cups, in most Western Europe there are two options: either you have the 3 minutes it takes to sip on a cappuccino or hot tea, or you drink an espresso standing (both in a ceramic cup). If you see someone walking around with a pint of hot beverage, it's a safe bet they are American.

I heard some American friend that it's part of American culture to control climate: drinks must be piping hot in winter and full of ice cubes in summer. Everyone has to look like they are in a hurry and everything has to be BIG. Combine these things and to-go insulated cups become a cultural phenomenon.

Then again it's funny that in Western Europe alcoholic drinks to go are totally a thing and people love drinking beer on a lawn when it's nice outside. Again, cultural differences...

EDIT: I was thinking mostly about Italy, France, Spain, Benelux, but Austria has a pretty solid café culture too.

Re: Coffee Cups Are Next

#295

Post by mft_ »

scotty79 wrote: post #243
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…

My office had a lot of ceramic cups that were taken by employees from the cabinet, used and left wherever in the kitchenette. There was one dedicated employee whose main job was to gather the cups and put them in the dishwasher and after they are cleaned, put them back in the cabinet. Dishwasher ran constantly and that employee kept kitchenette neat in between of cup handling. I think there were even two dishwashers…

Funnily enough, we just hit a similar issue.

I'm part of an environmental group at my workplace, and one of our recent pilots was to get rid of single-use paper cups. It was crazy: despite ample clean ceramic cups being available --and indeed stacked on top of the coffee machine!-- many people defaulted to paper cups, sometimes to the tune of having 5-10 used paper cups on their desk at the end of a day.

Anyway, one of the issues that the pilot uncovered was that no-one was loading or unloading the dishwasher: it transpired that everyone thought it was someone else's job. This led to piles of dirty cups and a shortage of clean cups, despite each kitchen area having a dedicated commercial-grade dishwasher.

The long-term solution is education - so that people understand that we must all take responsibility for the cleaning together, and to train people how to use the dishwashers. The short-term solution is for each kitchen area to have a couple of colleagues who keep an eye on things.

I'm one of them for my floor, and I unexpectedly find it strangely therapeutic to do the dish-washing :)

Re: Coffee Cups Are Next

#296

Post by kawsper »

peterbraden wrote: post #264
gambiting wrote: post #256

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Not Scotland, but I've travelled a lot in Wales, and most, if not all, of the cottages we have rented have had these notices.

Re: Coffee Cups Are Next

#297

Post by ahartmetz »

carlob wrote: post #294

As a European I really don't get take-out cups, in most Western Europe there are two options: either you have the 3 minutes it takes to sip on a cappuccino or hot tea, or you drink an espresso standing (both in a ceramic cup). If you see someone walking around with a pint of hot beverage, it's a safe bet they are American. I heard some American friend that it's part of American culture to control climate: drinks must…

Paper cups for take-out coffee are pretty big in Germany, I can tell you. I used to use them pretty often and sometimes still do when I don't have my reusable plastic cup with me.

Re: Coffee Cups Are Next

#298

Post by exodus_de »

carlob wrote: post #294

As a European I really don't get take-out cups, in most Western Europe there are two options: either you have the 3 minutes it takes to sip on a cappuccino or hot tea, or you drink an espresso standing (both in a ceramic cup). If you see someone walking around with a pint of hot beverage, it's a safe bet they are American. I heard some American friend that it's part of American culture to control climate: drinks must…

Where the hell are you from "as a European"? In Germany you can get a take-out almost anywhere they sell coffee. Vending machines are ubiquitous. It's not just for "Americans".

Having a coffee takes more than three minutes, especially if it's still hot. People don't necessarily have that kind of time in the morning. Or maybe they prefer to drink their coffee at a different place than where they purchased it.

Re: Coffee Cups Are Next

#299

Post by madeofpalk »

flarg wrote: post #259

By using disposable cups, aren't coffee shops extracting value from the environment but not paying for the privilege? Surely the correct answer is to ban disposable cups and let the market decide who survives? My local sit down cafe does very well with reusable ceramic mugs. Why should the likes of Starbucks get special financial assistance from the environment when the cafe doesn't need it?

> My local sit down cafe does very well with reusable ceramic mugs

For takeaway coffee?

Re: Coffee Cups Are Next

#300

Post by kristopolous »

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.

Many under-sink filtration systems last at least 10,000 gallons. They take 5 minutes max to replace.

Are you saying that 5 minute task every few years is more work then manually lugging 10,000 gallons of water through say, 10,000 separate containers, carrying each one, opening them manually each time, tipping and pouring them, then discarding them? (that's the weight of about 25 cars)

Not to be rude but I don't believe you.

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