Friday, November 14, 2008

Prof's Poser - Polystyrene cups

Inspired by a post here.

'One of my pet peeves is how many coffee cups are wasted. Why don’t more people use a thermos type or reusable coffee mug?'

I don’t know the answer, but I bet someone does.

As with all things eco, one needs to look at the enviROI. And also bear in mind whether your eco concern is waste, Co2, or a mixture of both.

It can be interesting sometimes to find out the energy used in, say, cleaning a reuseable vs. the cradle to grave of a disposable.

Sad to say, IF these things are a necessary evil, I am stumped as to possible reuses for now, however I then wonder about recycling.

This is not often optimal green-wise or anything like cost-effective, but these wee efforts tend to be used and disposed of in vast numbers by big offices.

Maybe there could be an argument for a dedicated in-house separated collection and purchase of a shredder to create virgin media bags of the stuff someone might be happy to collect and/or pay for to turn back into new ones?

If there isn’t already.

Or… just lob it all in the black plastic bin liner like usual.

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