To be a real treehugger and care about efficiency and such - lets try to come up with a way to make use of the the FRUIT (yes, fleshy part) that is currently discarded and thrown into landfills so that we can roast the bean or nut from a coffee plant. I've been hearing how this is a huge problem and people are willing to pay people to take the flesh away from their coffee plants...

Funny you should mention coffee mugs.

Three days ago I posted a mini-review of the $5 Zyliss plastic shaker which I feel is the best "coffee cup" I've ever used for durability, value, and ease of use.

I posted it here:
Post #9682: Jez Lezbro, Aug 15 '05
http://avidity.org/cgi-bin/login.cgi

Go to the "guest entrance," then find post #9682.

[Note from the editor: I took the liberty of doing a cut & paste on your review and putting it here for the convenience of our readers.]

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#9682 of 10090: Jez Lezbro (rs) on Aug 15 '05 at (10:47:37 PM)

I'm something of a coffee cup geek.

I've tried them all.

The fancy metal ones. The ones with the gadgety tops. The
insulated ones. The ones with interesting graphics on them.
Big ones. Small ones.

Et cetera.

But they all fail in some crucial area.

Some collect mold because they cannot be washed in a
dishwashing machine or submerged. Some are too heavy or
don't fit in a cupholder. Some do their job TOO well. Never
letting the ice melt in a cup even for 24 hours, making iced
drinks and milkshakes impractical. Some are beautiful to
look at but ergonomically awkward. Some are too expensive
and you're afraid to just beat it up.

So finally I found the perfect cup.

This one.

http://www.zyliss.com/produkte.cfm?lang=en&id=11

It's supposed to be a drink shaker. You know, for like
smoothies and protein shakes. But it makes a great coffee
cup.

It only costs $5 so I can buy a half dozen for what I used
to pay for one.

It can be washed in a dishwasher. It's light. Also, it's
completely watertight. Some coffee cups leak. Not this one.

It fits in all cup holders and I can even put it in my
bottle holder on my bike. I can use it for coffee or shakes.
Anything.

It feels great in my hand and I never have to worry about
the lid leaking coffee on my shirt or getting coffee in my
nose from that little air hole thing at the top of most
cups.

And, oh yeah. I use it for protein shakes too.

Also, it comes in at least four cool colors (day-glo green,
blue, red, and purple). Maybe more. Those are the only ones
I've seen.

The reason I use plastic cups is I don't like throwing out
paper or plastic cups when I order a coffee. I save a dime
each time I buy my coffee which doesn't seem like much, but
after 50 trips to the coffee shop, that's the price of my
cup and that's 50 cups that aren't in landfills.

I found mine at New Seasons Market here in Portland. I have
no idea where you could get one. The maker of the shaker is
Zyliss, a Swiss company. I suppose if you found a kitchen
store that sold Zyliss products, they could probably get you
a few.

Why do I mention this at all?

It's the simple things that make us the happiest. Sometimes
a $5 cup or a $10 pocket knife or wallet or something we use
a dozen times a day makes our lives a little more pleasant
by small increment and a lot more pleasant by accumulation
(one of my favorite computer gadgets of all time is the $15
Kensington Flylight).

It all adds up.

Hi fellow Treehuggers,



while I can surely appreciate anything that makes a difference such as the plastic cup mentioned in this article, I would like to ask everyone to stay encouraged to absorb ALL the research we need to make educated decisions on what to buy to make a difference.

I will leave a little broad stroke her in this post, hope y'all don't mind:



For example: Has anybody seen evidence that the long term usage of cups like the one mentioned, which needs to be cleaned (uses water and detergent plus, highly likely, electric energy when in a dishwasher) might possibly outweigh it's benefit by saving one, but adding more abuse to another resource?

I would venture to guess that the shipping of this item which is far heavier and NOT stackable like the dreaded Starbuck's paper cup, not even mentioning the manufacturing which seems a whole lot more involved than the production of said paper cup which can be manufactured in seconds, should be accounted for if we try to determine if something is really of benefit to Mother Earth.
That is my only objective and I want to make a difference.

There is several ways to have even multiple benefits.

1) Buying organic, because I don't put chemical "experiments" in my body PLUS I validate the farmer that grows it.

2) I get my news online which saves paper by the tons over the years AND I get a much more objective overview over what goes on in this crazy world which leads me to:

3) Buying green stuff online: I just ordered 36 compact fluorescent lightbulbs off e-bay for less about a buck fifty, (includes shipping), locally they go for more than 3 times that amount!

4) This is my favorite one:
Visualizing that the electric car sits in my driveway, under a big high-efficiency solar panel which trickle-charges it throughout the day, saving absolutely everything...let's face it, the Lithium Ion battery is there, the motors are there (since 25 years), we can fly to friggin Mars on solar sails - WE CAN HAVE THE ELECTRIC CAR !

Did I go off rambling here? Oops I guess I did...
I hope at least I was able to contibute to all of our thought process....