03-01-2011, 02:06 AM
cbelt3 wrote:
hmmm.... and yet there is some research out there that indicates that your o so eco-friendly paper cups are actually MORE wasteful of the blessed environment than styrofoam. And definitely more so if you recycle the styrofoam.
Of course the research has been ignored because everyone knows "plastics is teh evilness"... ... my google-fu is weak... hang on.
http://greendesignetc.net/GreenProducts_..._Paper.pdf
Personally, I collect a styrofoam cup at work for water with my cafeteria lunch. The cup is then re-used for oatmeal in the morning. It is then recycled in the proper container at work (my work has increased the recycled percentage of our solid waste stream to over 80% in the last five years). My coffee goes in a stainless steel travel mug, which I hand-wash each evening and then reuse in the morning.
And the DOD ? the culture of 'trophy coffee cups' is still in place... no styrofoam or paper, just the properly emblazoned ceramic.
Google-fu indeed. Did you read that paper, supposedly written by a Penn grad student? (My respect for Penn has just plummeted.)
It contains, among other brilliant sparks of cut and paste information, this sentence:
"Now, Many (sic) cities and counties have outlawed polystyrene foam: for instance, Taiwan, (Taiwan is a city or county now?) Portland, OR, and Orange County, CA."
Now, it also recommends that perhaps Styrofoam should be BANNED and makes a set of obvious and commonly understood conclusions, basically that it's best if everyone use "reusable" cups as often as possible. I hope this student's younger sister, maybe a high school sophomore, wrote this for a nice fee.