In a country as large as the U.S., one can hardly imagine just how many tons of recyclable garbage such as Paper Cups builds up thanks to our daily coffee habits from common shops like Starbucks. So can old coffee cups and java jackets or cardboard heat-tempering sleeves be recycled? Some, but not all can. If you ever wondered why paper cups aren’t made out of recycled paper materials to start with, here’s a number of solid info on why.
Most paper coffee cups, as you may have noticed, are coated with a wax substance, normally on both the inside and the outside, in order for the paper to hold hot liquid. And this waxy substance tends to make recycling the cups a difficult task on any sort of grand scale. So simply throwing the cup into the recycling bin rather than the trash can doesn’t guarantee that it will be recycled.
Check around in your local area for more details on chain coffee shops and recycling paper cup programs. At recycling facilities, coffee cups typically become part of a fiber stream called mixed paper, one of the cheapest types of recycled paper that can include magazines, phone books and small amounts of office paper. Start by asking around your local coffee shops. Many of them will recycle the cups for you as part of their own recycling program. Not all do, though, so you may have to ask a few, but in the end, it’s worth it. Starbucks in both Canada and Seattle have in-store recycling programs, and chains in San Francisco offer a composting program in-store too.
There are other ways on how you can recycle waxed paper cups. One suggestion is by planting a flower on the cup. Place a handful of potting soil in the bottom of a cup. Place a seed on the soil. Cover the seed with more potting soil. Water lightly. Tend to it daily. You can grow starter plants or flowers easily in these cups. Another way is to reuse waxed paper cups by composting them. If the wax is soybean wax, then it can be composted. You can also reuse them by making use of them for children’s activities and games such as making them a string phone. Take two waxed paper cups and using a pencil, punch a hole at the center of the bottom of each cup. Feed a piece of yarn through the hole in the bottom of one cup. Knot it inside the cup. String it through the second cup. Tie a knot on the side that is inside that cup. Now your kids can pretend to chat on their new string phone.
As per Coffee Cup Advertising, you can create a mosaic cup with the use of paper cups. Cut a few pieces of colorful construction paper up in uneven pieces. Glue the pieces onto a waxed paper cup. You can either allow it to stand this way or take clear tape–try broad clear packing tape–and tape the outside of the cup. You may want to do this two times to cover the entire size of the tumbler. This will secure the outer design and still allow you to reuse the cup as a drinking cup.