And as for the soap, it’s similar to a discussion I had with a commentator at the Giving Hands about the soap. They claimed to use the same ceramic cup for tea all the time, to use tap water – no soap at all – to rinse it out and dump the waste water into a nearby flowerbed and put tea bags into compost. Of course if you are diligent, and use soap carefully and water sparingly a reusable cup is better. My point was simply that if anyone thinks they’re doing something wonderful for the environment by washing a cheaply-made coffee cup with the average store-bought dishwashing liquid every time they use it, they might be better off using a foam cup 3 or 4 times for their coffee that day and then tossing it. Obviously (I hope) that’s a case of recommending the lesser evil, rather than a recommendation for a lifetime philosophy.

Additionally, there is some concern that certain compounds in soy lead to health problems in adults and birth defects in boys if their mothers ate too much soy while they were in utero.

On top of that, you have to clear fields to grow big crops like soy, which means cutting trees, which accelerates the global warming rate. Contrary to popular opinion, you don’t have to clear fields to raise cattle, or any other kind of farm animal either. Truth. I knew this was true of pigs, goats, and chickens (we had chickens when I was in high school and their coop was at the edge of the woods, under the trees and out of the sun), but I looked it up and it’s true for cattle too. On top of that, ruminant animals and birds can eat plants that human beings can’t, turning those plants into energy that we can use.

I agree that our industrial methods of raising farm animals for human consumption are completely messed up and are contributing to global warming and the destruction of the planetary ecosystem, BUT, if you raise them in a way that suits their natures and their nutritional needs, you actually benefit the environment more than if you grow a field of soy. You benefit people’s health, too, in the long run.

And of course the primary issue is there are just too darned many people on this planet. Until we solve that problem, unless we’re willing to make a whole lot of people live under police state conditions and monitor their every move, we’re not going to solve the larger ecological problems no matter what we’re eating. And while the damage we will do really concerns me, the fact that we are headed for a major human die-off if we keep up the way we’re going scares me even more.

I think if you use a ceramic cup and only wash it once a day and then just with a small amount of clean tap water you’d be on the right track. My point was just that if you must use a foam or paper cup, reuse it a couple of times and you’ve massively reduced your impact. Obviously using a foam cup once and tossing it is bad, but I think washing out your ceramic cup every time you drink out of it has an impact, too.

Of course it’s nothing compared to taking a plane flight, driving a car, buying stuff with excess packaging, etc. You can drive yourself crazy worrying about minor effects when making one big life change – taking the bus instead of driving to work, for example – would make a far, far larger impact.

Regarding foam cups – you do have to take into account waste volume, as well as the breakdown of the chemicals that make up a foam cup (and leach out of landfills into ground water, which then requires additional energy input at the water treatment plant). For that matter, the production of the foam cup requires a large amount of energy input earlier up the chain (as it is a petroleum byproduct) and also contributes to the production of VOCs and other pollutants.

And when it comes to material intensity (which can be tied up with energy input), then we are looking at more of a 100:1 parity than 1000:1 (I confess I just went downstairs to the engineers to ask about this).

That being said, I don’t actually see foam cups being used all that often… don’t most places give out paper cups now?

So what’s the solution? Use a jar.

And I have recently started unplugging my appliances… unfortunately, I did so around the time the weather warmed up, so we aren’t using the heat/AC, so I can’t separate out the drop in our electric bill….

It depends largely on what your concerns are. If you’re concerned about the climate change implications of the expenditure of fossil fuels, ceramics use more energy (making them, washing them in hot water, etc.) If you’re more concerned about trash and the implications of the creation of plastics and foams and whatnot, avoid foam/disposable cups.

I use a ceramic cup, frankly, but I’m just pointing out the disparity to show that it’s not always as black and white as people might make it. When I do use a foam cup at work, I make a point to use it multiple times.

How much energy it takes to produce a cup is only a part of the equation. After use, the foam cups are often thrown in the trash (as opposed to recycled), adding to this nation’s already enormous waste stream. Ceramic mugs are built to last.

1000 uses may seem like a lot, but I use my coffee mug every single morning, and I have had it for WELL over three years, so it looks like I’m coming out ahead. Not to mention that I have more than one cup of coffee per day, which may or may not require more than one disposable cup.

Also, this assumes that you don’t already have a non-disposable mug sitting on the shelf at home. If you do, you’ve already spent the energy for that mug, so every time you use a foam cup you’re using excess energy.

If we’re talking about travel mugs, what about the plastic toppers and cardboard heat-guards on the disposable cups? Refillable mugs have these features built in, so it seems we need even less refills to “break even”.

Digressing further, we could talk about the extra energy you use going out of your way in the mornings to get to the coffee shop vs. making your own coffee at home.

In short, it may seem like a logical statement that foam cups are better for the environment than ceramic cups, but peeling back the layers just a little bit reveals a more complicated truth.

Also, I have to second Telly’s commend re: foam cups. I have always felt extremely guilty about my use of foam, thanks so much for helping me clear my conscious.

http://inthegreen.typepad.com/blog/2008/05/hey-mr-gore-wha.html

Sustainable agriculture needs to reach new highs, which is why I’ve found a new interest in (industrial) Hemp – its both good for the soil, and easy on energy and water.