loved the cups and great idea. Don't use paper cups myself. But doesn't clay come from mines and doesnt' it neet to be baked at very high temperatures (commanding great energy consumption). When porcelain breaks, it too goes to the landfill and doesn't break down.
What is the perfect material?

Can't really get much better than heated mud :)

I did this a few years ago, actually. It was in no small part spurred by my coffee shop's (actually, a gas station ironically enough, but they make good coffee) whopping 20% discount on coffee if you bring in your own cup.

They sell cups too.

However, I suspect that a lot of coffee shops won't (or don't, or no longer) use ceramic because the labour costs to wash them are higher than the cost of the paper cups. Nevermind replacing the ones that "disappear", one way or another.

Coffee shops ought to start charging for cups, the way some stores are charging for bags.

I can't think of any beverage that tastes better in a paper or plastic cup.
I always take my stainless mug along, and many of the coffee shops here in Cincinnati give discounts.
Save the planet and some money.

I use a stainless steel bottle for all of my drinks, including coffe. Unfortunately for hot coffee, it makes the bottle brutally hot, but you can carry it by a caribiner attached to the top. On the upside, you can carry it around (often I'll just chuck it into my backback) without the chance of spilling boiling hot coffee on yourself.

More reason to have a cup at your local coffee shop. At least two here in Cincinnati (Baba Budan's and Sitwells) use ceramic mugs if you're "dining in," and I'm sure would fill your reusable to-go mug if you asked them.

"let's throw away the smell of bleached paper and the cuts from sharp plastic lids."

Ive been making coffee for the last 9 years, in 3 different country's, and Ive never once smelt bleach on takeaway cups, or cut myself on the edge of a lid. One problem Ive come across in the past is the health and hygiene laws rightfully say you cant serve food or drink into a dirty container, ie people bringing in their own dirty coffee mugs. You then have to wash the mug before serving coffee in it, and it becomes more of a time factor than a cost factor. Easy solution would be if you could wash your mug before leaving the office, you would find cafe's more willing to use your mug. Then we can all sleep eay at night right?

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters came out with a bio-degradable cup made out of corn. If you can find them, they are great for a 20 min. cup of coffee.
Of course I am a personal advocate of using your own cup or mug! But it is cool to see that there are some companies that really put their advances towards bettering the world. :-)

~Alissa

I know this will sound weird, but I bet many people like their coffee in the paper cup from the coffee shop. Not particularly because it's paper, but because it has the "logo". Really. The same reason people buy Nike hats, Levi's jeans, Nascar jackets etc. (Not many people subscribe to Naomi Klein's "no logo" philosophy I guess; being the corporate sheep that we are)

Many times I've thought that the coffee shop (hint hint Tim Horton's!) should sell a reusable ceramic coffee cup that looks *exactly* like their paper cups; with no handle either. Then people can still feel like their "going out" for their coffee without the added waste. I'd buy one. Too hot to handle you say? Nah, the paper ones are too hot when first poured too.

want to REALLY cut down on the waste of coffee?......drink SPIKE!!.....300mg of caffine.....thats 2-3 cups of coffee it replaces....and it saves you money by costing less than 2-3 cups of joe!.....SPIKE ROCKS (literally)

td

Like many of you-I also take coffee to work from home in a reusable coffee mug. It is redundant that the people have to be reminded that buying coffee in papercups is 1) not helping the planet and 2) costing more than actually brewing the coffee at your place using a resuable mug.
Even more ridiculous is when people complain that they are short on cash constantly and you see them holding a paper coffee cup filled with coffee on one hand....I wonder why.

Hello, I am a french reader of treehugger. ( sorry if i do a mistake with the language, please forgive me ).

At "Rock'n solex", a student festival, re-usable and recyclable cup was distributed by a association "Ecocup".
You lease a strong plastic cup (in PP plastic) for one euro wich exchange with a bar ticket for a new full cup at bar, ( they keep a stock). Then you let the cup after you drink, and recover one euro.

The association wash all dirty cups for a other festival.
The cup can be re-used in ash tray or other things.
It is 20 at 25 less polluting than a disposable paper or plastic cup, or bio-degradable cup, and cheaper!!!!

This idea appear in Germany since 15 years...

The site is www.ecocup.fr warning in french

Maybe we can do it for coffee cups, I hope and I go to militate in my university

Also, If you use stainless, you can insulate it for hot beverages by a cozy. Cute handmade ones are sold on Etsy.com, buy handmade!

Non Recyclable
One of the greatest problems with paper cups are they are non recyclable. The plastic lamination which holds the paper cup in place makes it difficult to be recycled ( in addition to the other problems which have been highlighted here.)
Even in a country like India, where 80 to 90% of the waste is recycled. For that matter the disposable plastic cups are better , in terms of recyclability.
I think the best way to carry this forward and create a change (in the Americas, were Starbucks is so popular) is to force Starbucks to introduce ceramic mugs as far as possible. At least the people who sit in their cafes and drink can have coffee in ceramic cups( I really don't know , we don't have Starbucks here and what I assume is they give coffee in papercups at their outlets).

re-Hello

I read somewhere that Starbucks used ceramic mugs before paper cups but people stole the mugs.

Maybe they can do a deposit or keep the number of credit card, like hotels, to pay them if people steal.

(sorry if i do a mistake)

Ooooouuuch! Those porcelain cups are $12 + S&H!
I can't see many little coffee businesses being able to afford those, even with a bulk discount. Or enough of their customers willing to buy one that they could resell them.

If you want a mug, even the insulated steel type-- go to a thrift shop. There is usually a wider selection than at a regular store, they usually sell for $1 or less, you're re-using something, and the money you pay for it goes to support a charity in most cases.

When it comes to the question of the sustainability, clay is a great material. First of all, it's mud. That's basically it. Second of all, it can be fired without the use of oil or electricity. Brick and wood klins actually make ceramic come out better (you can also make hundreds of ceramic items in one kiln in one blow).

I'm fairly certain it doesn't come from mines, because people have been using ceramic before mining was even considered.

The only problem with ceramics are the glazes, which contain toxic chemicals (while people mix glazes they MUST wear a respirator).

COOL