If we were to look at how much energy it takes to produce cups made from paper, polystyrene and ceramic, most people would automatically think the ceramic cup is the greenest choice. It's not in terms of manufacturing effort. Producing a ceramic cup requires 640 times the energy it does to make a polystyrene cup and 294 times the energy to make a paper/cardboard one, according to Treehugger.com.

In terms of air pollution, polystyrene produces the least amount of emissions to manufacture one cup. It also takes more water to manufacture a ceramic cup than the other two.

But before you toss out all your ceramic cups and replace them with Styrofoam, Treehugger went on to find the ceramic vessel much more functional and durable with up to 3,000 uses compared to single-use paper, plastic or polystyrene foam.

"But for a reusable cup to be reused, it has to be washed," says Martin B. Hocking, a professor of chemistry at the University of Victoria in Canada. Hocking wrote a "life cycle assessment" of reusable cups made from glass, ceramic and plastic to disposable cups made of paper and polystyrene.

Hocking factors in the cost of energy to wash the cups which is almost equal to the energy expended to produce a single polystyrene cup. According to Hocking's study you would have to use and wash a plastic cup 450 times, a glass cup 393 times, and a ceramic cup 1,000 times to equal the energy efficiency of one polystyrene cup. You would only have to reuse a plastic, glass or ceramic cup about 20 times (on average) to equal the energy expenditure of a disposable paper cup.

If you go by just the energy expenditures, Styrofoam cups seem like the way to go. However, there is much more to a life cycle assessment. What happens to these five cups after their useful life is over?

Glass takes more than 1 million years to decompose, but it is recyclable, and when recycled, it reduces pollution by 20 percent according to California's Project New Leaf. Paper can be recycled, but most paper cups are coated with plastic or wax and cannot be recycled. Even coated paper will biodegrade in five years, while uncoated and unbleached paper will be gone in a few days according to Worldwise.com. Styrofoam and plastic do not biodegrade, instead they photodegrade - breaking down into smaller and smaller particles that will eventually wind up in our bodies.

Scientists are just now learning the effects of photodegrading plastics and polystyrene on the environment. These substances have only been around about 50 years, and are just now breaking down into microscopic sizes. As plastics get smaller, they are eaten by smaller creatures. As these creatures are eaten by larger creatures up the food chain, these plastics (and toxins) get concentrated inside living bodies, maybe even in our bodies.

"Except for a small amount that has been incinerated," says Tony Andrady, a senior research scientist at North Carolina's Research Triangle Park, "every bit of plastic manufactured in the world for the last 50 years or so still remains. It's somewhere in the environment."

Nothing is really disposable. Many of the things we consider disposable will probably outlive humanity as a species. The greenest choice is to cup your hands and drink out of them as our ancestors have for millenniums. That may not go over to well in the school cafeteria, so get in the habit of bringing your own cup.

Here are a few alternatives to paper and polystyrene;

- Replace paper and polystyrene with biodegradable, compostable clear drinking cups made from cornstarch; a pack of 50 costs $8 from www.ecowise.com

- Offer a discount to customers who bring their own beverage container if you own a restaurant or takeout diner.

- Outlaw polystyrene containers and unrecyclable plastic containers.

- Charge extra for "disposable" items, like plastic bags, to get customers in the habit of bringing their own bags.

- On party invitations; include "bring your own cup" and encourage guests to think about reusing cups.

- Commit your whole office to zero waste and have all employees bring in their own cups, plates and utensils.

- Don't host large events with "disposables," include in the budget the cost of renting or buying real dishes and the staff to wash them.

- Pour beverages from a large container into glasses instead of using individual single-serving bottles.

Shawn Dell Joyce is an award-winning sustainable artist and writer who lives in a green home in the Hudson Valley of New York.

© Copley News Service

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