Our compostable-reusable coffee cups have just landed in a new Seattle shop! Not A Number, located just east of the University District on 45th Street in Wallingford (the ‘hood that could), recently began stocking their shelves with our coffee cups. The store is an amalgamation of environmental goodies, political schwag, and gifts and toys that’ll blow your mind. Think a sliver of Spencer’s Gifts, a dash of Politics R Us, and 100% Seattle soul.
Not A Number is run by Jon and Kara; who I first met at the Seattle Green Festival in 2008. These two have been a support to the Seattle community since first opening their doors five years ago. The store has hosted veterans’ events, local candidate forums, and book readings by progressive authors. Countless local artists and small businesses (like us!) have found a home for their passion on the shelves of Not A Number.
Stop by Not A Number for one of our very green and very sexy coffee cups. If you want a cup but cannot trek to Wallingford for your 16 ounces of eco-friendliness, order one online! Our webstore hosts several different coffee cups, and a collection of T-shirts. Find it here at: www.SustainabilityIsSexy.com
Coffee Cup Snap Shot
Worry no more about the effects of petroleum and plastic coming from standard cups. This reusable-compostable cup is made using 100% US grown corn. The lid is a flexible rubber, certified safe by the FDA.
The Basics:
- 17 ounces
- Microwave safe
- Best if hand washed
- Available in Seattle and online
Environmental Considerations:
- Biodegradable
- Made in the US
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I just heard of a company in New Jersey called Moducup, LLC that is introducing the first 100% post consumer waste cup. In speaking with them I learned that recycled fiber can be used multiple times before the fibers are too small to form paper products.
Check it out!1
Hi Dean,
Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment. I’ve looked into Moducup, and didn’t see anything about a 100% post consumer waste cup on their website.
A 100% post consumer waste cup has been in the sights of some major players for some time. However, I think it should be realized that this type of cup is still a disposable - and will come with all the negatives associated with one use cups. Producing disposable cups requires energy & resources to produce, energy to ship, energy to recycle, and greenhouse gases when its composted. And remember, most recycling facilities won’t be able to process a disposable cup.
This type of cup is certainly a great step forward, but disposables won’t ever be as good as a reusable cup.
Hi Sustainability Is Sexy — I just discovered your site and love it!
It’s great that you’ve come out with a biodegradable reusable coffee mug, but I hope you are looking into alternative materials for the next version of it. As you probably know, corn-based ‘plastic’ has all kinds of environmental negatives associated with it. As this story in Smithsonian points out (http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/plastic.html), PLA takes 100 to 1,000 years to decompose in a landfill.
More important, the stuff is made from genetically modified corn, which I think most green-minded folk do not support. It’s a poor use of land that could be used for crops that better serve us, and GMO contamination of crops (especially organic farms) is a HUGE issue. The largest supplier of PLA, NatureWorks, is owned by Cargill, the world’s biggest GM corn-seed maker.
I just blogged about the fact that Straus Family Creamery is looking into replacing its plastic yogurt tubs with a potato-based alternative. I don’t know that much about it — only that it’s not GMO — but I wonder if that material could be an option for you guys?
Hi Wallet Mouth,
Thanks for the thoughts! I think you’ve hit the nail on the head. Corn plastic is certainly a better product than many others, but it isn’t perfect for just the reasons you listed.
I think a creation like potato-based alternatives are certainly worth exploring! Your article was very interesting, and I’m excited to see a dairy company take such a lead in sustainability. Coffee cups tend to be a bit more complex - whatever material makes up the cup must be able to withstand boiling temperatures. It’s one of the reasons we don’t see disposable cups made of recycled paper - recycled fibers just can’t take the heat.
Like I said, it’s certainly worth exploring! Keep your eyes open for some new coffee cup designs in the near future…there’s quite a lot of buzz about innovations in development.
PS, love your site!
Hi Sustainability is Sexy !
I love your site and the message you are trying to get across! I’m a student at the University of Toronto and I am doing a project for my environmental psychology class on trying make sustainable behaviour. Being a university student, the mounds of coffee cups in the garbage at libaries is just staggering!! and so I thought to pick the topic of increasing the use of reusable mugs. Your website has great information and I wanted to commend the sustainability is sexy team on their efforts! I was also wondering if you know of any good websites I could get more detailed information and statistics about landfill sites and paper cup degradation as well as the amount of trees chopped down, or any site that you would recommend as a further read.
Thank you !!!
Hi Steffe,
I’m glad our site was so helpful! A number of industry people have noted that SIS’s “Facts” page is one of the most comprehensive web pages that summarizes the environmental impact of paper coffee cups. We’ve cited our facts with end notes, and that may be a good place to find deeper data.
For research on par with academia, I know there is a study out of the University of Victoria and another out of the Netherlands that analyzed the energy use of various coffee cups. The Netherlands site link I have is here: http://www.bekerrecycling.nl/
When it comes to data on degradation and landfill waste, our best successes have been in contacting actual landfills. Toronto is certainly worth a call - the Toronto Government tried to ban paper cups in 2008, but ran against opposition from Tim Horton’s. I would guess both the city landfill, and some of the city offices have a ton of data you could use. There’s also a lot of news articles that came out around December 2008 on the topic.
Hope that helps! You’re welcome to send me an email and keep in touch…I’d love to hear how your efforts go.
Nicko | Sustainability Is Sexy
Moducup, I was give a sample of the cup at the show, and the paper is reported to be 100% recycled. However, the cup is lined with a thick layer of petro based film, but once filled with hot liquid (a nice Honduran coffee roast) the cup had a very strong odor of like stale or old wet cardboard. I was disappointed as this had potential. Also the bottom got soft very quickly.
Hi Jake,
Good to have a 1st person review. In my opinion, having a petroleum-based lining is a very heavy compromise. Most recycling facilities in the US can’t process that type of material…which means a disposable cup made of 100% recycled paper will ultimately end up in the landfill.
This style of cup has some great potential, but still misses some of the biggest problems with disposable cups.
Nicko | Sustainability Is Sexy
It’s a joy to see so much information on an important topic which is often ignored by so many, even professionals. Thanks for helping make people more aware of what they can achieve by changing their habits!