Falmouth University staff and students were shocked this September when they returned to campus to find that the old standard coffee cups were being phased out in favour of new lidless cardboard cups.
In an effort to be more environmentally friendly, these new cups fold at the top instead of including a traditional lid. This includes a four step process in order to prepare to drink from them.
When asked about the new cups, one student said “they look great and look smart but they’re going to take some getting used to.”
Another simply stated “I’m baffled”.
Sophie Dimes, a second-year Drawing student who frequents the café talked me through her first impressions.
The cup’s really hot because it doesn’t have a cover like the old ones.
“The cup’s really hot because it doesn’t have a cover like the old ones. But the coffee tastes the same; it tastes good.”
She continued, “the instructions are kind of confusing but it’s a good starting point, like if they were mainstream and they didn’t look so fast foody. But it took me a hot minute to figure it out. If you were in a rush and you needed to get somewhere they’d be a bit of an inconvenience.”
“A lot of the ethos and focus here is on sustainability. At a creative university, that should be a big consideration and it’s nice to see that the university cares.”
“The lip bit is getting quite soggy now though.”
It is crazy, I think the cups are dangerous… They’re boiling hot to hold.
Jadelle Luckman, President Falmouth of the student union shared in the outrage, “It’s absolutely ridiculous isn’t it? It is crazy, I think the cups are dangerous… once you’ve got a hot drink in it, I cannot fold them down for the life of me. I end up giving up and just pouring it into a cup in the office. You can’t fold them down or when you can you have got that risk of easily knocking the cup over. They’re boiling hot to hold.”
“I think it’s an FX Plus decision for sustainability. I don’t get it. The Sustainability Café on Pembroke Compass, they don’t do cups at all.”
The manufacturer, The Good Cup, boasts a “28%-38% lower carbon emissions than conventional products” and a 10-20% reduction in cost. This cost reduction has not been reflected in the price.
Research conducted by the House of Commons Environmental Audit Agency found that approximately 2.5 billion disposable coffee cups are used every year in the UK. Furthermore, less than 1 in 400 of these cups are actually being recycled.
The University of Kent’s Professor Thanos Papadopoulos said on the matter “While more people are aware of and actively engaged in recycling, when it comes to coffee cups, we are still in hot water. While initiatives like giving out rewards for reusable cups were touted as a solution to the problem, they’ve not proved to be the silver bullet needed.”
These new coffee cups offer no solution to this problem, although they do reduce the amount of plastic waste associated with disposable coffee cups in landfills.
An article from Interplas Insights highlighted an issue with introducing new coffee cup designs, “With designers constantly innovating, the market is flooded with cups made from different materials – not to mention the assortment of lid types that accompany them, which has further complicated the recyclability of disposable cups.”