I’m not quite sure how I feel about this: on one hand, the cups are bad for the actual environment. On the other hand, these people are kinda unhinged
(UK Daily Mail) Activists are calling for cigarette packet-style labels on disposable coffee cups to remind people they are harming the environment when they buy them.
Anna Warren, a communications officer for North Sydney Council, has started a petition to make coffee cups ‘uncool.’
She wants drinkers to keep a plastic cup on them at all times and re-use it to save the environment.
This is what I mean about being a bit unhinged
The paper cups are not recyclable due to their waterproof plastic lining and are the second biggest filler of landfill space after plastic bags with 2.6billion thrown away every year.
Ms Warren is encouraging the big coffee brands to introduce labels reminding drinkers that the cups go to landfill, similar to the ‘smoking kills’ reminders on cigarettes.
Again, loopy.
Ms Warren’s petition to the environment minister, which has more than 23,000 signatures, reads: ‘Coffee cups are the second largest source of landfill in Australia and most of the cups that don’t make it into landfill, end up in our environment.
‘Landfill’s greenhouse gases are one of the major factors for climate change and global warming.
Now, that’s an interesting point, as well. And it refers mostly to methane. Furthermore, looking back, landfills and agriculture were blamed the most for global warming from mankind, but, cow farts and dumps weren’t sexy enough for the Cult of Climastrology.
‘Coffee cups which don’t make it to landfill end up in our oceans, killing fragile marine life like turtles, dolphins and even whales – washing up on shore dead with stomachs full of plastic waste.
On this, though, there is a point. Yes, we can try and blame a few rivers in China and Asia, but we ourselves do individually contribute to real pollution. What can we do in our individual lives to reduce our pollution footprint? And can we encourage people to do this without getting naggy and employing Big Government force?
Buying them doesn’t harm the environment. Manufacturing them, I suppose one can argue that does harm the environment.
When I buy one, it’s already been manufactured. The damage has been done. If I refuse to buy it, it doesn’t get magically de-manufactured — in fact, it gets disposed of without any benefit having been derived from its manufacture.
Thing is, there’s no viable alternative to manufacturing and using disposable cups. Starbucks ain’t gonna suddenly start handing out ceramic mugs with every venti macchiato.
Excellent point.
Excellent point, so no doubt it will be ignored.