Coffee Industry Unites For Sustainable Coffee Cups
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by: Tom Doerr
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Word Count: 339
Date: Thu, 7 Oct 2010 Time: 12:09 PM
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Several leading coffee retailers are joining forces in a bid to give their on-the-go coffee market a well needed sustainable overhaul. After attending a 'cup summit' at the Michigan Institute of Technology. The summit was lead by Starbuck's director of environmental impact, Jim Hanna, and included cup manufacturers, municipal officials and waste disposal officials.
Whilst celebrating the 40th anniversary of Earth Day at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a coffee cup summit, part hosted by the Society for Organizational Learning, made it resoundingly clear that the situation is a "lot more complicated than people think" and that there really is no alternative other than getting such companies to work together on achieving such a challenging goal.
Since then, they have been sharing prototypes of innovative designs, researching ways to make it financially worthwhile for communities to recycle used coffee cups, and designing a pilot program for a waste-free zone at Faneuil Hall Marketplace where everything would be recycled or composted.
Other concepts included incentives for customers to bring their own reusable mugs which require very little change within a company and can cut down on expenditure.
Temperatures are also rising elsewhere amidst preparations for the world's biggest coffee morning on Friday 24 September, a charity move in aid of MacMillan Cancer Support.
Despite being made up of recycled material, Starbucks cups are technically not recyclable due to the waxy coating. Where many local coffee shops have begun to use recyclable cups at a higher cost, Starbucks lists on their website that they will not introduce eco-cups until 2015.
An honorary freeman of the borough of Watford, Mavis Trywhitt, has arranged the occasion, which will take place at the Nascot Wood Road gardens from 10am to 12pm.
The Starbucks Beta Cup challenge last year encouraged consumers to come up with ideas on how to eliminate disposable cups. The winner, Karma Cup, was a concept rather than a product; it suggested a rewards scheme for customers using reusable mugs.
About the Author
Researchers are still trying to find easily produced, economically viable biodegradable cups but for now we will have to make do with the environmentally unfriendly insulated cups we are used to.
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