Why Do Restaurants And Offices Still Make Use Of Disposable Coffee Cups?

By Deidre Connor

It's unquestionably a good thing that everyone is talking about saving the planet nowadays. Although we'll surely some day wonder why we thought what we did back in 2009 and 2010 was enough, it's really just good that the idea of going green isn't just secluded to a tiny minority. As thoughts regarding the environment have shifted, many businesses are rethinking a lot of their old practices and buying habits. Companies that don't care about anything but saving money are even looking at green products, even if they don't know it, as going green is now way cheaper than before. Let's examine one of the smaller things that most companies are still overlooking: disposable coffee cups.

Fast Food Restaurants Must Use Disposable Coffee Cups

Restaurants and offices are really the only business types that still use disposable coffee cups, for the most part. There's not many options for fast food restaurants. They pretty much have to provide their customers with a product that they expect to be thrown away since they certainly can't expect them to bring back dishes. This is the way fast food will work, and there will always be a need for disposable coffee cups, until someone comes up with something truly innovative.

Sit-Down Restaurants Could Go Greener, But Is It Worth It To Them?

In sit-down restaurants, however, the main reason they are still used is due to cost. In many ways, this may be a false savings. The price may be cheaper up front, but you're paying for those disposable coffee cups over and over again where you could, instead, be washing and re-using. However, this would also involve paying someone to wash those coffee cups. Would it be worth it in the end? I suppose that depends on a lot of factors, such as how much you pay your dishwasher, if you use a dish washing machine, and just how much those disposable coffee cups cost you. There's no doubt, however, that doing away with the disposable cups would be better for the environment.

Offices That Can Expect Visitors Have Few Choice

Many offices offer free coffee as a courtesy to their customers. The issue here isn't unlike the issues with fast food restaurants. Can clients truly be expected to provide cups of their own? With a lobby, though, there is a very simple solution, though some people won't like it. This coffee is free, after all, so there really is no financial reason to provide coffee anyway, which means clients should be happy to bring their own cups. More than likely, though, people would get offended, even if you did advise them that you were removing disposable cups to cut down on waste.

Offices That Do Not Expect Visitors Have No Excuses

Is there really a point for offices who don't see visitors much at all to still have disposable coffee cups on hand? Not only is this wasteful, but it's expensive, too. There's no reason that a company can't provide permanent, washable coffee cups to their employees instead of paying for disposables over and over again, and that's if employees don't already have their own cups, as many do who have their own desks. These companies would very quickly see a money savings when they stop ordering disposable coffee cups. - 31805

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