Travel Mugs

Travel mugs and thermoses are the latest trend in the greening of the earth movement. These accessories come in a variety of shapes, colors and sizes to match every outfit. They are fairly affordable and customizable. They are being lifted to a level of aristocracy, where owning one of these shows you care about the environment and are a part of the greening movement which is quickly becoming an international trend among celebrities and the average Joe alike. All of this and they are designed to keep your beverage hot or cold for a superior length of time than the paper cousins.

Millions of North Americans begin their day by going down to the local coffee shop for a fresh cup. But along with that coffee comes a Styrofoam or paper cup that, once used, is quickly thrown away, where it is collected by the large polluting trucks that move them to a large garbage landfill where these cups will then decay and release more carbon dioxide into the air. North America alone uses 60% of the world’s paper cups, 130 billion as of 2006, which meant 50 million trees which were pulped for their construction and 33 billion gallons of water (Environmental Defense Fund Paper Calculator). However, now there is a solution - travel mugs or reusable coffee cups. These handy hot and cold containers are the latest fashion accessory.

These travel mugs and reusable coffee cups are a great alternative to the disposable kind. Just as convenient without the waste. And soon they may be more affordable as well. As a maneuver to reduce the amount of waste that the city of Toronto must pay to ship to their landfill the city has been trying to pass legislation to add incentive to the lug a mug program, including getting coffee shops to give discounts when you bring your own mug, charging extra for the convenience of using the disposable cups and also making it illegal to sell paper cups with the plastic lids. All of this is theoretical legislation, but has great potential for reducing the amount of disposable coffee cups which can be found in majority of litter bins within Toronto, approximately a million a day, (Toronto Star).

In recent years water is becoming more and more the beverage of choice for people. Its health benefits and relatively inexpensiveness make it ideal for people of all walks of life. Thirty years ago bottled water was hardly a business, but now it is everywhere. Bottles of water come with us on the bus, in the office and on our nightstands. 15 billions dollars are being spent on bottled water in 2007. 2008 is estimated at being as high as 16 billion dollars, (Fast Company.) Billions of dollars are being spent on bottled water, and 24% of the bottled water is merely repackaged tap water.

Plastic water bottles have also been connected to diseases and chemicals. The water bottles are made of a hard plastic that will break down in the universal solvent, water, which then leaks those chemicals into the liquids in the bottle. This process is sped up when the bottles are heated, or frozen. One such chemical is bisphenol-A (BPA). BPA mimics estrogen, the female hormone, which has been shown to cause defective cell division, as well as other reproductive and developmental issues, prostate cancer in men, breast cancer in women and may even be linked to Alzheimer’s and diabetes. Due to environmental health groups the BPA was declared toxic under the Canadian Environmental Act (CEPA). This is just one instance, one chemical associated with theses plastic bottles, (Labour Environmental Alliance Society.) Reuseable water bottles are the preferred option if you choose to carry water with you. Stainless steel water bottles are best such as those from KleenKanteen and such. These do not leek chemical into the water source are easy to clean and very durable. Some even come with lifetime guarantee. Aluminum is also an option, but be wary of the epoxy resin lining which has also been shown to leak chemicals. If you want to use plastic, the safest are high density polyethylene (HDPE) identified as 2 on the bottom of the bottles. Low density polyethylene 4 and polupropylene 5 are also safer.

Where to get one of these:
The reusable water bottles can be purchased at lots of locations such as Chapters, Kitchen Stuff Plus, West 49, and many sporting goods stores for as little as $8. Hot beverage travel mugs can be purchased at nearly any coffee shop, including Starbucks, Second Cup, Tim Hortons, as well as most department stores.