Since the average American drinks more than three cups of coffee daily, which is 400 million cups for the whole population per day, the amount of waste produced from the disposable coffee cups only must be huge.
Cardboard coffee cups are environmentally neutral since they can be recycled several times. But, not the Styrofoam cups. According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, in US, around 25 billion Styrofoam cups are thrown away and more than 500 years have to pass until the trash decomposes.
A recently established firm in California: Reduce. Reuse. Grow. came up with an extraordinary idea that will solve two major environmental issues at the same time: excessive waste and deforestation. Moreover, they created a biodegradable coffee cup that can be buried in the ground after being used and it will plant its seeds contained in its fibers. Furthermore, the seeds are native to the area where the cup is bought. For the time being, these are only Californian seeds, but the company plans to expand to other states as well. Additionally, the environmentally friendly coffee cup decomposes in 180 days and sprouts at least one tree. Therefore, when you buy these cups, you contribute to sustainable recycling and you also lower the amount of waste produced in the country. What’s more, you help our planet by growing more trees! All you need to do is to unravel the used coffee cup and leave it in water for 5 minutes and after this you can plant it wherever you want to.
Reference: The Mind Unleashed