The life juice - How one simple change can reduce your waste every day!

By Hattie Webb

Happy Wednesday guys! Thanks for taking a look at our blog again...this one is for all the coffee lovers (and tea, and any hot drink tbh) out there! When watching my friend order her almond flat white (yes she's basic) with her reusable coffee cup today, not only did I feel extremely guilty as an environmentalist not having one myself and ordering my daily coffee cupless, but I also felt shocked that more students do not use one. It is easy, no extra effort to the barista and could save you money (although not sure if this is the case at the library cafe unfortunately!) According to the Telegraph as many as 2.5 billion paper coffee cups are thrown away each year in the UK. "Can't they be recycled though?", I hear you say. Well not really...only 1 in 400 cups are recycled as it is difficult to separate the plastic coating and cardboard to recycle the card. Coffee cups are lined with plastic polyethylene, which is tightly bonded to the paper making the cups waterproof and therefore able to contain liquid. They are also difficult to recycle due to the fact that they are contaminated with drink. As a result, less than 1% of coffee cups end up being recycled in the UK. Un-recycled plastic takes hundreds of years to break down, meaning lots of it ends up impacting the natural environment. So yeah, the situation regarding where we drink our beloved caffeine fix from, is pretty rubbish...literally! Although companies such as Pret A Manger are raising awareness by offering a 50p discount for those who bring their own, not enough is being done, and I am seeing far too many students with disposable cups. So if you do anything this Zero Waste Week, go buy a reusable cup (you can get cheap ones on amazon) and do your part everyday in reducing your waste production! And if you're anything like me, you then can continue to drink your pumpkin spiced late with #noregrets. *Update*Since originally writing this blog post I found out that you can buy resuable cups in Rootes grocery store and get a free drink at the university's outlets with the cup you buy! There are really no excuses now!