It’s now been a year since the plastic bag charge was introduced. According to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs the 5p levy on carrier bags has been a success, with the number of one-time plastic bags used by shoppers dropping by more than 85% after just the first six months.
We’re all well aware of the problems plastic bags pose to the environment – floating in the sea, getting caught in the mouths and stomachs of baby turtles, tiny birds and otters alike.
Onto another everyday evil: the disposable coffee cup. Last week an international group of NGOs called for ‘an end to throwaway culture’citing the success of the plastic bag charge as a sign that something similar could work when it comes to coffee cups.
How many disposable coffee cups do you reckon you pick up a week? Mine is a minimum of 5, one every morning and sometimes in the afternoon. I do this without even thinking about the consequences. Billions of these cups are thrown away every year and they can take up to 30 years to break down.
According to The Times around seven million disposable coffee cupsare used in Britain every day, that’s around 2.5 billion a year. Fewer than one in 400 of these are recycled. They can take decades to break down, are clogging landfills and, when you think about it, aren’t actually all that necessary.
Given all of this environmental campaigners are now calling for something to be done about the environmental pest that is throwaway, takeaway coffee cups.
A recent study conducted by Cardiff University found that charging for coffee cups could be effective. This coincided with calls from The Environmental Paper Network (EPN), a group of 140 environmental and social NGOs, for the use of such cubs to be curbed last week.
The Liberal Democrats have also got on board and are calling for a charge to be introduced.
Last month Liberal Democrat Leader, Tim Farron MP, said:
‘Throwaway cups are a threat to wildlife and the environment and it’s high time the Government stepped in to reduce the amount of waste created each year. I want to see a culture shift towards bringing your own cup for a refill, rather than buying cups which are often non-recyclable and then throwing them away. Liberal Democrats brought in the plastic bag charge and it’s been proven highly successful – coffee cups are the next logical step.’
With all of this in mind The Debrief tried out some reusable cups this morning on our routine run to Pret. You can see the results over on our Snapchat.
Here are some of the best reusable coffee cups so you can get ahead of the curve and save the environment, one Americano at a time…
Best reusable coffee cups
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.