Starbucks is in the process of replacing their current cups with cups made of 10% recycled paper and their
heat-insulating cup sleeves are already made of recycled paper, but the company may soon have a new,
environmentally-friendly option. A new company based in the Seattle Area, MicroGreen Polymers, says that it has
developed a way to make insulated coffee cups out of recycled plastic bottles. Not only does the company
believe that their cups, which are less than a year away from full commercial production, will be cheaper than the more
traditional paper cups, but the production process creates no harmful gasses. The cups are created
by infusing plastic with tiny air bubbles, creating an air cushion within the material of the cup to protect your
hand from the heat. Because there is less physical material in the cups, the plastic from one bottle can be used to
make five to seven 12-ounce coffee cups. MicroGreen Polymers has signed a development agreement with Reynolds Food
Packaging, so it may not be long before a new wave of eco-friendly materials hit the stores.
Build a better coffee cup
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1I hate drinking coffee from a plastic cup. Call me old fashioned - but it just doesn't taste good. The best cup of coffee I've had lately was from a 7-Eleven in Middletown RI: paper cup, hot-hot-coffee, hot-handle which slipped over the cup to make it into a mug. Result: coffee tasted delicious. I have my hot-handle to reuse. Both cup and hot-handle were made with 100% recycled materials. Yummy!
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