When assessing the sustainability of disposable cups vs reusables it s clear that reusables are more eco friendly when used repeatedly.
Ceramic mugs vs paper cups.
Each use after that means more environmental savings and less garbage.
These plastic cups contain less plastic than the tumbler i use but even doubling.
Classic ceramic tin styrofoam glass plastic paper and stainless steel.
Taste is just one factor you ll want to consider when selecting a mug.
The material you settle on will have an impact on your coffee s flavor.
So does bringing my own reusable mug really help the environment if i have to replace it every few months.
A canadian study at the university of victoria compared the energy usage in manufacturing reusable cups with that of disposable cups.
There are three main options.
Your friend s skepticism aside you really only need to use a ceramic mug about 18 times or a plastic mug eight times to break even with a paper cup in terms of water use energy and waste.
Creating a reusable ceramic mug requires more energy than the making of a disposable paper cup.
We filled each mug with boiling water 212 and then waited half an hour to see how.
It is sometimes referred to as a quality difference but it might be better to call it a suitability difference.
This post however will focus solely on.
The types we tested are.
On the other hand a paper cup is temporary and disposable most likely used in new environments or unique.
As mentioned in the essential answer you only need to use your ceramic mug or plastic cup a handful of times to break even with the industry standard cup in terms of environmental impact.
When drinking from ceramic coffee mugs it feels like a better experience because of the associations you make to your mug from the location you use it in home office local coffee shop to its weight texture and insulating properties.
While manufacturing a ceramic cup took more energy than manufacturing a paper cup the energy per use for a paper cup remained constant because they are thrown away after one use.
Everyday einstein answers a reader question about environmental responsibility.
750 uses but only 250 washings.
The suitability of both porcelain mugs and ceramic mugs greatly depends on the situation in which they will be used.
Mugs hanging around your office tend to be used on average 50 times.
Ceramic cups are also a good alternative but it will take more uses for them to become more environmentally friendly than disposable cups as few as 15.
Paper cup 4 fig 8 relative indicator results for every cup type per impact category 13 fig 9 influence of the different processes on the use of a ceramic mug 13 fig 10 influence of the different on the washing of a ceramic mug 14 fig 11 relative lcia results for the different cups per impact category.
