The book Cradle to Cradle, written by William McDonough & Michael Brangart is all about products and materials, where they come from, where they go, and how we should design start designing things with their full life cycle in mind. The Cradle to Grave mentality is how manufacturing has traditionally worked, but its time to look beyond that.
The book takes this idea one step further. Rather than printed on standard paper (downcyclable), it is made from synthetic paper. As stated in the book this material is:
- infinitely recyclable by standard recycling processes to the same quality (no downcycling)
- contains no wood pulp or cotton fibers
- made from plastic resins and inorganic fillers
- highly durable
- waterproof
- The traditional paper cup environmental dilemma - there is no wood or cotton used in the product and amount going to the landfill is minimized
- The deposit/return sanitary concerns - cup is “new” every time so users do not have to be concerned with past uses or cups that are not properly sanitized between uses
- Down-cycling reuse - the cup won’t lose value as it is recycled
- The complete banishment of the to-go mentality - users can still bring their own coffee tumblers and receive a discount or can opt to get their coffee in an infinitely recyclable synthetic paper cup.
Useful?
shaunabe
The circle is really hard to close.
That is, the used cups dont find there way back to the places where they might be converted to new cups. In many cases, there simply aren't systems to make this happen and if we asked people to bring these cups back to stores, why not simply reuse them versus recycle?
Useful?
beezie idea owner
Ahh, but don't forget the circle can be large! If someone keeps the cup and reuses it, it still stays out of the landfill and keeps other cups from being used. In our society we reuse things sometimes sure, but eventually they get tossed. In this case when they get tossed they can still be completely recycled. By giving the cup value (aka a full refund from the deposit), you help to keep it from ending up in a a landfill. Basically, if you don't return it, someone else probably will.
Maybe some of these cups do end up in the garbage, at least at the start of the program, before people are completely aware of their life cycle potential. But even renewable coffee tumblers, with everyone's environmental consciousness, come to an end and get tossed, or broken, or get shoved in the back of a drawer. Maybe they're not disposable per say, but if they end up unused, in the end (after all the research, development, manufacturing, and material) how much good can they /do they do?
Useful?
jamesh
Useful?
beezie idea owner
Ah, yes, clay. This idea has been proposed several times already. It has a lot of issues including waterproofing, shipping (heavy and brittle), cost, recyclability.
Synthetic paper, can be recycled infinitely, and not just for making more coffee cups. But the point being it is never downcycled!
Useful?
SLane
Useful?
beezie idea owner
thanks, yes an incentive program may in fact be a good idea. those ideas that offer rewards seem to be getting the best responses. it's like a TED talk i saw about points. basically people are obsessed with points and winning prizes to the extent that it has a drastic effect on their behaviour. this can be and often is exploited. (not necessarily a bad thing)
this would be why there is a monetary value associated with each cup, but i guess the potential for winning an even bigger prize would be an added incentive. this seems to also work with coke's online code redemption and fast food restaurants that have annual contests connected with ordering food/coffee.
still we can't look merely at the awards for the user, but also the earth/environment. hence why i will yet again emphasize the importance of material selection to anyone who may be reading this comment. to-go mugs are mostly not made of materials that can be reclaimed or reused and contain chemicals that mix with the beverage and/or off gases into the air. also, biodegradable materials will still end up in a landfill unless there is a program built around them that diverts them from the stream of garbage and recyclables, which still does not solve the problem of keeping the cups out of the landfill.