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All employers want to make sure their staff are happy at the office and one way of doing this is to offer a selection of hot and cold drinks throughout the day. Once you’ve asked your staff what type of drinks they would like (you will probably have a list as long as your arm), you now have to think about what they are going to drink it out of – a coffee tea cup. Yes, but like the drinks the possibilities are endless. Below is a quick review of the types of coffee tea cups available.
Plastic – not really seen as much of an option today, because of the environmental issues, ie, it is not made from a renewable source. You tend to see these cups amassed in a bin along side whatever machine they have been dispensed from – one sip or drink and they are junk. These types of plastic cups usually don’t biodegrade, but can be recycled where facilities exist. However, even when it is recycled it cannot be used back in the food chain because of hygiene reasons, so tend to be made into items such as plastic rulers, office-filing trays etc.
Another more popular option today is the paper cup. Whilst it is better for the environment in terms of using a renewable resource, they are, obviously, made from trees and that has another whole host of issues. Also, whilst being made of paper, they are proving to be difficult to recycle and tend to be incinerated. Fortunately, there are a number of paper cups available on the market, that are made from recycled materials, which will keep all your office ‘eco-warriors’ happy.
A further development on from the recycled paper cup is the biodegradable cup, which is made purely from plant starch. As its name suggests it is fully biodegradable and compostable. Whilst it is obviously better to dispose of this type of cup in a compost bin, it will eventually biodegrade even if thrown away with conventional rubbish.
The final type of cup to consider is the china or ceramic cup. In terms of the environment, this has to be the best alternative as it can be constantly re-used avoiding excessive rubbish and does not significantly harm the environment in its production. One thing to point out, however, if you have 500 staff all washing up their ceramic cups in hot water separately – you’ve probably just pushed up your carbon footprint appreciably. An environmentally friendly dishwasher is also required!
Whatever type of cup you want or need, Roast & Ground can provide you with it. We are always on the look out for new products, particularly where they help our environment, so you can be assured that we have your best environmental issues at heart.
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