How does the use of disposable coffee cups impact the environment?
According to Rhim and Kim (2009), disposable coffee cups are made of paperboard and plastic (p. 106). The paperboard is treated using a solid-bleached-sulphate chemical then waterproofed with a layer of polyethylene (Rhim & Kim, 2009, p. 106). The paper component of the disposable coffee cup is made up of natural materials, however, due to the layer of polyethylene the product is unable to be recycled (Rhim & Kim, 2009, p. 105). According to Whyte (2016), disposable coffee cups are the second largest contributor of waste in Australia (para. 5). In addition to waste contribution, disposable coffee cups impact the environment through products such as solid-bleached-sulphate and
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3). Once a disposable coffee cup makes its way into landfill the natural elements begin to break down, however, the polyethylene lining takes up to fifty years to break down and eventually become a part of the environment (Potter, 2017, para. 11). Whyte (2016), identifies that many consumers are unaware that the disposable coffee cup is unable to be recycled which leads to the product being incorrectly disposed of leading to wasted recourses (REF). Disposable coffee cups also contribute to land and water pollution (Potter, 2017, para. 3); (Clean Up Australia, n.d., para. …show more content…
1). Landfills are a form of waste management that includes trench-based disposal sites and engineered facilities (Department of the Environment and Energy, 2013, p. 5). Australian landfills receive 20 million tonnes of waste each year accounting for 40 percent of Australian waste (Department of the Environment and Energy. 2013, p. 4). According to BDA Group (2009), landfill results in environmental damage by emission of greenhouse gases, air pollution and water contamination through leachate (p. 4). Leachate is a toxic fluid formed when landfill waste breaks down (Environment Victoria, 2013, para. 6).
Leachate and gas emissions:
According to Venkatraman and Ashwath (2010), leachate generates methane emissions (p. 237). The Australian Government (n.d.) reported that Australian waste sectors are responsible for approximately 15 million tonnes of carbon pollution each year (p. 1). Gas emissions generated through landfill are called landfill gas; when biological materials in landfill undergo anaerobic decomposition landfill gas is generated (Australian Government, 2015, p. 2).
Leachate and water and soil
What may be important to one company might not be important to another company. The coffee pods for the single cup serving machines are not biodegradable. A few companies are now starting to make their cups biodegradable as they are starting to fill up landfills at an alarming rate. Some companies feel that this is a sustainable course of business and started to make biodegradable cups that will help the environment. There was no need to go this route other than to be a socially responsible
Harmful emissions from the landfills escape into the air we breathe. The soil and water are also contaminated from our
There is also debate on how much better biodegradable plastics are in the first place. This is because as biodegradable plastics break down, they break up into smaller and smaller pieces, but never quite disappear. This leaves the potential that the plastic would continue entering the food chain. But although biodegradable plastics aren’t perfect, they are still much safer than standard plastic and present a much lower risk. In addition, by making the shift to ban single use plastics, research towards better plastic alternatives will speed up and better solutions will become available. Over time, these new alternatives to plastics may spread to other items that aren’t single use, making an even greater impact on the health of humans and the
Drinking coffee has been a popular tradition for many years and will always remain a timeless convention. For coffee consumers, that first sip of caffeine in the morning is the highlight of their day, the boost they need to keep going, or the simple pleasure of enjoying a moment of peace. Coffee can be made with several different devices, comes in many different flavors, and can be enjoyed almost anywhere. Despite the various options offered by coffee companies, there is one thing that remains common among users – many are dependent on this addictive brew. Dependency is important for companies when it comes to their product because it produces consistent sales. Keurig Green Mountain not only produces coffee which is already a reliant product
Landfills in America have taken many square miles of what used to be fertile land, forests and communities and that trend does not seem to have an end. The waste, we as Americans, dispose of each year is in the tons and that number rises annually. One of the reasons why this occurs is actually quite simple; population. Population in modern day America has soared to well above three hundred million, in 1915 that number was hundred million. Urbanization and industry has given way to deforestation and landfill creation. The need for more landfills has caused many health concerns, issues, and problems to not only those living near and
Most of the necessities humans need are provided in supermarkets, in fact supermarkets have become a necessity for our everyday life. They are now the main source of water, food, clothes and everyday tools. Therefore, the plastic bags demanded and supplied in this industry increase every day. In the past decade, we produced as much plastic as we did in the whole twentieth century (Freinkel, 2011). This exponential increase of a non-biodegradable material has negatively impacted our environment immensely. Plastic production requires our dwindling fossil fuel resources, robs away animal lives, litters our beautiful landscapes and even affects our very own well-being. Hence, if plastic production doesn’t diminish immediately, we will suffer great
... converting plastic waste into useful products are being affected by pollution; this contamination is found within containers where plastics are collected. But the same risk of pollution carries downside consequences in which workers and people responsible for cleaning and disinfecting the plastic materials are not doing the best to eliminate plastic waste, and to disinfect the infected bacteria and microorganisms from the atmosphere and environment. Organizations from China and India are the largest in the world, they collect and purchase used plastic from United States, Europe, Asia and Latin America (Minguez 2013). These companies do not bother to sanitize the products before the recycling process; for this reason the planet earth is getting a worse environmental condition, and it is destroying lives of living beings, and natural resources as well (Uddin 2014).
It is proven that ¾ of the world will be living in cities when Arthur Kay is in his 60s (Smedley, 2015). This can illuminate society because of less pollutants, and new way to use unique resources. Kay has changed the way society looks at waste coffee grounds with his own
Do you hate seeing litter on the streets, or seeing and smelling heaps of garbage sitting, and rotting away? Humans recycling more will help to reduce this. We throw many things that can be recycled. Recycling glass, plastics, paper, and metals will reduce solid waste dumped into the ecosystem daily. “96 percent of U.S. plastic, and 50 percent of its paper, goes into landfills. Mexico, not exactly a bastion of environmental awareness, recycles more glass than the U.S.” (Alice Horrigan 1). That’s 96 percent of the millions of tons of plastic, which will outlive most of us in a landfill that we could recycle and keep it out of our landfill. Paper is made from trees, if we recycle it, we can decrease our rate of ugly deforestation and the destruction of animal habitats. When paper gets to the landfill, it is guaranteed to get wet. The wetness and decomposition of paper atracts mold spores, which produce an odor and are potentially bad for your health. Also k...
Also, decomposition of waste in landfills release methane which can increase the spread of diseases. 2. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, “the average person generates over four pounds of trash every day and about 1.5 tons of solid waste per year” (EPA, 2015). But by throwing everything away, rather than being selective about what you can put into your recycling bin and normal bin causes us to have an overflow of landfills. 4.
Environmental health has been a very important issue to talk about internationally these days. We, human beings are leading the earth toward its edge unconsciously. We are using natural resource more than we give to the Mother Nature. Day by Day, people are aware of what damage they do the environment, but they do not care of fixing this damage. In a very simple step, the road of a better healthy environment will begin; recycling is the best idea that illustrate the previous point. To Andrew Roper, recycling is the conversion of waste products into new materials, such as waste paper that can be converts into new paper goods (n.d). There are many types of recycling, for example, there are glass, paper, metal, plastics, textiles and electronics recycling (Evans , 2011). This research will focus on recycling papers in the United Arab Emirates, the benefits or recycling and its effect on the environment, the difficulties of recycling, the process of recycling paper, and the finals products of recycling.
As humanity develops new technology, the magnitude and severity of waste increases. When computers were developed, it widely was believed that the need for paper would be eliminated. On the contrary this was widely proven false and we are now utilizing more paper than ever. Canada is not an exception as the typical Canadian generates an average of three pounds of solid waste each day1. This alone shows what a careless species we have become- using and disposing materials without even considering the damage we are causing. With half a trillion tones of waste around the world, only 25% may be reused for a second or third time and less than 5% can be renewed limitlessly1. These facts are true only in developed countries. Since these traditional waste reduction methods have been proven inefficient, we must endorse new innovative technology to arrive at a solution.
Recycling is important in the effort to preserve our environment for future generations. We are running out of locations to put landfills. Recycling is a simple and effective way to reduce the amount of waste stored in landfills, yet many people do not know how easy it can be. For example, whenever I go to Shoprite® and I b...
People should know the negative impact throwing away a water bottle or newspaper, purchasing meat from the grocery store or consuming gasoline has on the environment, and many do not. By informing society about how their decisions affect the environment, we can help save our planet and change our attitude toward the land we live on, the water we drink and the air we breathe” and truly show respect for the stuff that we depend on. The United States produces “about 8.25 billion tons of solid waste each year” (Russell 1). People do not realize the impact they have on our planet and the environment. When people throw anything in the trashcan, they are contributing to the destruction of our planet.
In the 1870’s, plastic was discovered in the United States when John Wesley Hyatt was trying to create a different material to make billiard balls (Manrich, 3). Little did he know it would majorly evolve into material we use everyday. However, plastics are now taking over our landfills. The average American throws away one-hundred and eighty-five pounds of plastic a year (Popescu, 121). The answer to decrease this statistic is easy: recycling. I believe that recycling will help eliminate littering and the growth of landfills, while also creating jobs for the unemployed. Not only does recycling plastic help eliminate littering, but also reuses the plastic so there is not a production of additional unneeded plastics. The