How to Avoid Plastic Pollution with Reusable Coffee Cups & More

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by

James Walters
in
How to Avoid Plastic Pollution with Reusable Coffee Cups & More to Help Climate Change by Eating Sustainably

Here we look at; The Problem with Plastic Pollution; Recycling Plastic Isn’t a Solution; and How to Switch to Reusable Coffee Cups and More. This is one of over 40 ideas in our Sustainability Roadmap with Solutions to Climate Change, and part of our series on Eating Sustainably.

If you already know why you need to avoid plastic pollution, here are the options for reusable water bottles, coffee cups, and more:

  1. Chilly’s Series 2 Reusable Water Bottle*
  2. Chilly’s Insulated Reusable Coffee Cup*
  3. Circular and Co Reusable Coffee Cup*
  4. Chilly’s Food Pots (in their Amazon Store)*
  5. Eco Friendly Reusable Lunch Boxes*
  6. Waxed Canvas Reusable Lunch Bag*
  7. Bambaw Reusable Bamboo Cutlery Set*
  8. Bambaw Reusable Products*
  9. Beeswax Wrap Co. Reusable Food Wraps*
  10. Good Club (Get £15 off Your First Order with This Link)*

If you want some more facts before making any decisions, let’s get into the details:

Single-use plastic is a huge problem. A huge problem for the environment and our health.

Plastic is a problem because it eventually breaks-up into microplastics that pollute nature and affect biodiversity. The effects of microplastics on our health are not yet sufficiently known.

Plastic is also a problem because over 90% of plastics produced are derived from virgin fossil feedstocks. This represents, for all plastics (not just packaging), about 6% of global oil consumption. 6%! I was absolutely gobsmacked when I read that in the World Economic Forum Report on The New Plastics Economy.

Based on that research, the oil consumption used by the plastics industry is the equivalent to the oil consumption of the global aviation sector!

Just imagine swapping all single-use plastics with reusable eco friendly products. Imagine the reduction in oil consumption and pollution. Imagine the improvements it would make to our rivers, our oceans, and our health.

The 10 most commonly found single-use plastic items on European beaches, alongside fishing gear, represent 70% of all marine litter in the EU.

The 10 most commonly found single-use plastic items on European beaches are:

  1. Cotton bud sticks
  2. Cutlery, plates, straws and stirrers
  3. Balloons and sticks for balloons
  4. Food containers
  5. Cups for beverages
  6. Beverage containers
  7. Cigarette butts
  8. Plastic bags
  9. Packets and wrappers
  10. Wet wipes and sanitary items

We already covered the Benefits of Switching from Tampons and Sanitary Pads to Menstrual Cups in another article, so for this one we’re looking at the products you may use the most when you’re out and about; cups, bottles, and cutlery.

Cups, bottles, and cutlery also stand-out as easy and quick swaps. Easy swaps that will quickly help climate change and help us to eat sustainably by reducing our consumption and waste.

Before we get into some of the reusables that will help climate change, let’s look at the problems with plastic pollution.

The Problems with Plastic Pollution

Single-use plastics are reported to make up around half of all global plastic production. That’s madness. Half of all plastics that are produced, used only once…

Now, it can be hard to avoid plastic completely so let’s focus on the real villain in the story; single-use plastic.

First let’s clear-up what is meant by the term single-use plastic.

There can be misinformation about what single-use means. Even a Coca-Cola advert claimed their single-use plastic bottles aren’t single-use because they can be recycled, which is wrong.

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) defines it like this;

“single-use is a term which can refer to any plastic items which are either designed to be used for one time by the consumer before they are thrown away or recycled, or likely to be used in this way.”

— United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

So if there are 12 million tonnes of plastic entering our oceans every year, what is the effect on marine life?

It’s estimated that 100,000 marine mammals and turtles and 1 million sea birds are killed by plastic pollution annually.

Plastic pollution is a problem for all ocean life. From plankton to pilot whales, algae to albatross.

By polluting the oceans we are changing a delicate balance that has existed for millions of years. A balance between life: large and small.

But why does that affect us?

The living world can’t operate without the oceans.

Plankton and other organisms make up the sea food web, supporting sea life, capturing CO2 and producing at least half of Earth’s oxygen.

If we destroy the oceans, what happens to half of the oxygen that we need to breathe?

Trees? Yes, trees do also produce oxygen, but they need our help as well, because we’ve already cut down trillions of trees.

So, we need to reduce plastic pollution to help our oceans and ourselves, but isn’t recycling plastic an option?

Recycling Plastic Isn’t a Solution

Yes, recycling is better than landfill BUT, just because you put plastic into the recycling bin, it doesn’t mean it actually gets recycled. The UK’s official plastic recycling rate is only 47.4%.

So, throwing away plastics is a serious problem, and recycling isn’t a solution, which means it’s important to switch from plastics that get thrown away or recycled to products that we reuse over and over again, for years and years.

There has been a lot of attention on plastic pollution with groundbreaking documentaries like Blue Planet with David Attenborough:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAphgHhlteM

There has been a lot of publicity in the media, and campaigns such as Refill and #CutTheCutlery from City to Sea. But, plastic pollution is still a huge problem.

Eliminating our part in plastic pollution can be a quick fix with a bit of an investment and a change of habit.

Eliminating plastic pollution completely can only be achieved by businesses changing how they package their products, however, for this piece we’ll stay focused on what we can change, today.

I’m not saying we need to stop drinking coffee or buying take out food.

I’m just saying that changing my habits has helped me to reduce my plastic pollution, and eliminate it when it comes to drinking coffee or water and eating when I’m out and about.

What I did was get out of the habit of using single-use coffee cups and single-use bottles and single-use cutlery, by switching to eco friendly options.

How to Switch to Reusable Coffee Cups and More

7.7 billion plastic water bottles and 3 billion disposable coffee cups are used every year in the UK! Those are two of the highest priority items to switch to reusables.

Switch to a Reusable Water Bottle

I’m including Chilly’s reusable water bottles because they’re recommended by City to Sea:

Find the Chilly’s Series 2 Reusable Water Bottle Here on Amazon*

Chilly's Series 2 Reusable Water Bottle

Switch to a Reusable Coffee Cup

You can also buy reusable coffee cups from Chilly’s*. You might also like to consider reusable recycled coffee cups.

We’ve owned the same reusable bamboo coffee cups for years. Unfortunately the ones we bought are no longer available, but there are lots of options to choose from. I’m including one from Circular and Co because it’s made from recycled coffee cups.

Find the Circular and Co Reusable Coffee Cup Here on Amazon*

Circular and Co Reusable Coffee Cup

Switch to a Reusable Lunch Box

This switch does need a bit more research because you’ll likely have some quite specific requirements, depending on the sort of food you take out and about.

We do a lot of camping so we often take normal food from home then cook it on the camping stove, or we’ll make sandwiches and take the picnic bag.

If you’re looking for something to keep food warm (or cold) you could try Chilly’s food pots*, which are another recommendation from City to Sea. You can also take a look through the eco friendly reusable lunch boxes on Amazon*

One option I liked, as it’s a nice take on the classic paper bag, is the waxed canvas lunch bag by KRENDR*. Again, I haven’t used this myself, but it does look to fit the bill to help eliminate waste.

Find the Waxed Canvas Reusable Lunch Bag Here on Amazon*

Waxed Canvas Reusable Lunch Bag

Switch to Reusable Cutlery

We’ve had our cutlery sets for a long time so for reusable cutlery I’m including another recommendation from City to Sea. It’s the Bambaw Reusable Bamboo Cutlery Set*.

Find Bambaw Reusable Bamboo Cutlery Set Here on Amazon*

Bambaw Reusable Bamboo Cutlery Set

And, Why Not Switch from Cling Film and Foil to Reusable Wraps

We’ve used beeswax wraps for a long time. We only have cling film and foil at home because we’ve never used up the rolls we already had. I can’t find the beeswax wraps that we own so I’m including Beeswax Wrap Co. Reusable Food Wraps*.

Find the Beeswax Wrap Co. Reusable Food Wraps Here on Amazon*

Beeswax Wrap Co. Reusable Food Wraps

So, you have your reusable water bottle and reusable coffee cup and reusable lunch box and reusable cutlery, how can you get the most from using them when you’re out and about?

Where to Use Your Reusables

First of all, it’s important to start a new habit. That habit is making sure to take the reusables with you, whenever you go out of the house.

That could be keeping them in your bag. Keeping them in your car. Putting a reminder note on your front door so you see it before you leave. Or, setting a daily alarm at the time you’re getting ready to go out.

The best option has to be to make all your food and drink at home, using your reusables. If you prefer to grab a coffee from your favourite coffee shop or food from your favourite cafe, City to Sea has helped to get reusables back on the menu and their web page shows that a number of the UK chains are accepting reusables, including:

  1. Starbucks
  2. Costa Coffee
  3. Pret
  4. Caffe Nero
  5. Waitrose
  6. Morrisons
  7. Boston Tea Party

There will be many others, especially local and independent coffee shops and cafes, so it’s always worth taking your reusables along and asking before you order.

You can also use the Refill app and get connected to places to eat, drink, and shop with less waste. The app will help you find

  1. Free water refills
  2. Coffee on the move
  3. Lunch on the go
  4. Water fountains
  5. Plastic-free shopping

Take a look at refill.org.uk or download the Refill app from the App Store or Google Play.

Want to Do More to Eliminate Plastic Pollution?

#CutTheCutlery is helping to tackle single-use plastic items. The EU already banned some of the most polluting single-use items. Despite banning straws, stirrers, and cotton buds, the UK has yet to ban the rest of the items that are the most polluting! This campaign is about putting pressure on the UK government to ban the most polluting single-use plastic items.

Take a look at citytosea.org.uk/campaign/cut-the-cutlery/ then sign and share the petition.

And, lastly, what I love about my own journey with sustainability and helping to stop climate change is that every day is a school day. I’m always learning something new.

Thanks to my research on the City to Sea plastic free shopping page, I found out about Good Club. Good Club is zero waste groceries, with delivery and collection, in reusable pots along with 2,000+ of the best more sustainable products.

I’ll give Good Club a try then post an update on the blog to say how it went.

Learn More About Good Club (and Get £15 off Your First Order Thanks to This Refer a Friend Link)*

Here Is What You Can Do

Want to Continue Your Journey?

Where Next?

There is so much inspiring information to give you ideas of how to help climate change by growing, eating, and living sustainably, you can:

  1. Read Our Articles
  2. Sign-Up to Our Free Email Newsletter
  3. Get Started and Vote with Your Money
  4. Try the Sustainability Roadmap
  5. Use the Company Directory
  6. Support Nafford Junction

Help Us Inspire Others

If you are passionate about helping climate change, please consider supporting Nafford Junction, you can:

  1. Become a Patron to Give Regular Contributions
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  3. Create for Us and Publish Thought Provoking Content
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  5. Go to NaffordJunction.co.uk/support

Sources Used to Create This

  1. Single-use plastics
  2. #Eco-friEndly HEaltHy Plastic-frEE PEriods
  3. The New Plastics Economy Rethinking the future of plastics
  4. Plastic pollution
  5. Reusables during COVID
  6. Refill | find more than 190,000 Refill Stations globally
  7. Cut the Cutlery
  8. UK Statistics on Waste
  9. How To Sustain Life On Our Planet
  10. Complaint made over “misleading” Coca-Cola advert
  11. Switch to Reusables
  12. Plastic free shopping

Production Notes

This was produced by me, James Walters, as a personal project to help stop climate change by inspiring others to grow, eat, and live sustainably.

Any advice given is the opinion of those involved and does not constitute medical, financial, or legal advice.

* We include links we think you will find useful. If you buy through those links, we may earn a small commission. It’s one way to support our work and to inspire as many people as possible.