2 ms·
About a year or so ago, Microsoft's campuses made a huge switch from all plastic cups/silverware to compostable materials. Silverware/cups literally made out of
by city41 16y ago
About a year or so ago, Microsoft's campuses made a huge switch from all plastic cups/silverware to compostable materials. Silverware/cups literally made out of corn and potatoes and such. A common question was "why doesn't MS just give each employee a ceramic mug?" The response was that MS found it's actually more environmentally damaging to wash them than it is to compost a crap load of cups. I found that response interesting. I'm not claiming that response was true (it might have just been compostable cups were cheaper for MS). But I am often surprised to find intuition and the environment don't always go hand in hand.
- oiuytgfrtgyhuji 16y agoThat's true for hand washed mugs. Running your coffee cup under the hot tap in the kitchen uses vastly more energy than making a paper one or cleaning batches of cups in an industrial dishwasher. Best alternative is my coffee cup that I have black coffee (no milk or sugar) and I refill but never wash. Gradually the layer of coffee tar on the inside exchanges with the fresh coffee. It's also pretty hygienic, nobody else ever borrows my mug, and nothing can live on the layer of caffeine sludge.
- jmm 16y agoYes, our obsession with cleanliness/newness is one of the major culprits in our piles of waste. And to think we once lived amongst each other with communal drinking cups at the water fountain...