Ceramic Cups vs Paper Cups

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Ceramic Cups vs Paper Cups

By: Robert Daniel

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Many coffee chains in the UK and US are now offering discounts if customers take ceramic Coffee Mugs instead of using the stores own paper coffee cups.

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 ceramic cup in the dishwasher, it takes about as much energy - and would probably produce as many emissions - as it takes simply to produce a new paper cup!

Gains in dishwasher efficiency since then may have changed the math a little, but if you wash your ceramic cup after every use, you could easily be talking hundreds of cups of joe before your cup 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 Cups

Reverting to ceramics would be an ethical no brainer were it not for a seminal piece of academic analysis in the early Nineties by Dr Martin Hocking, Reusable and Disposable Cups: an Energy-Based Evaluation. He concluded you'd need to use your ceramic Cup 1,006 times for it to break even (in energy terms) with its polystyrene competitor. This is largely because kilns are extraordinarily energy intensive, because using a dishwasher to wash the cup also uses energy, and because mugs 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 house you cannot win sometimes, whatever we do we seem to leave waste, create more waste, or anger some groups with our actions. Who really considers all of the above when all you actually want is a Mocha Frappuccino, and quick?

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<h1>Ceramic Cups vs Paper Cups</h1> Many coffee chains in the UK and US are now offering discounts if customers take ceramic Coffee Mugs instead of using the stores own paper coffee cups. 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 ceramic cup in the dishwasher, it takes about as much energy - and would probably produce as many emissions - as it takes simply to produce a new paper cup! Gains in dishwasher efficiency since then may have changed the math a little, but if you wash your ceramic cup after every use, you could easily be talking hundreds of cups of joe before your cup 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 Cups Reverting to ceramics would be an ethical no brainer were it not for a seminal piece of academic analysis in the early Nineties by Dr Martin Hocking, Reusable and Disposable Cups: an Energy-Based Evaluation. He concluded you'd need to use your ceramic Cup 1,006 times for it to break even (in energy terms) with its polystyrene competitor. This is largely because kilns are extraordinarily energy intensive, because using a dishwasher to wash the cup also uses energy, and because mugs 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 house you cannot win sometimes, whatever we do we seem to leave waste, create more waste, or anger some groups with our actions. Who really considers all of the above when all you actually want is a Mocha Frappuccino, and quick? Event Supplies http://www.eventsupplies.co.uk<h2>Author Info</h2>event supplies stock a huge range of quality catering disposable items used throughout professional catering businesses, whether you are organising a large event or small party, event supplies service, prices and product range ensure your catering disposable needs are exceeded. <a href="http://www.eventsupplies.co.uk">Catering Supplies</a> <a href="http://www.eventsupplies.co.uk/product_listing,5,0,Plastic_Glasses.html">Plastic Glasses</a> <a href="http://www.eventsupplies.co.uk/product_listing,7,0,Hot_Drink_Paper_Cups.html">Paper Cups</a> More <a href="http://www.articlesroom.com">free articles</a> from <a href="http://www.articlesroom.com">http://www.articlesroom.com</a>

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