Ceramic Cups vs Paper Cups

June 17, 2009 - PRLog -- Most are lauded for their commitment to "going green" but is there any proof that these changes will have the desired effect and minimise our negative effect on the planet?

Research from the early 1990s suggests that each time you clean a mug in the dishwasher, it takes about as much energy - and would probably produce as many emissions - as it takes simply to produce a new hot drink paper cup (EG: http://www.eventsupplies.co.uk/product_listing,7,0,Hot_Drink_Paper_Cups.html )

Gains in dishwasher efficiency since then may have changed the math a little, but if you wash your Ceramic mug after every use, you could easily be talking hundreds of cups of joe before your mug makes more sense than a daily dose of paper. Washing the mug by hand may not absolve you, either - although you can help your case by using cold water and be sparse with the fairy - detergents are pretty energy-intensive to make.

The argument is worse when you compare Ceramic Cups with Plastic Glasses

Reverting to china would be an ethical no brainer were it not for Work carried out by Dr Martin Hocking, Reusable and Disposable Cups: an Energy-Based Evaluation. He concluded you'd need to use your ceramic mug 1,006 times for it to break even (in energy terms) with its styrene competitor. This is largely because kilns are extraordinarily energy intensive, because using a dishwasher to rinse the mug also uses energy, and because cups get broken. Plastic cups also had a reasonably good recycling infrastructure in place: the UK's Save a Cup programme saveacup.co.uk still collects millions of plastic cups from vending machines.

It seems whether an individual or massive coffee chain you cannot win sometimes, whatever we do we seem to leave rubbish, create more waste, or anger some groups with our actions. Who actually considers all of the above when all you actually want is a Mocha Frappuccino, and quick?

Event Supplies
http://www.eventsupplies.co.uk

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Event Supplies distribute a wide range of catering disposables and reusable products including Paper Table coverings, Plastic Glasses, Tumblers, Paper cups, Paper plates, Napkins, Cutlery and more. We deliver next day.