Straws at drink stations

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epic thread

they were plastic when I was on the Fantasy two weeks ago. We don't use the drink station because we're bottled water drinkers (*ducks*)... but we always recycle our water and bring our own bags to grocery stores, etc... I had no idea how harmful plastic straws were to the environment so I learned from this thread...

just curious to the anti-plastic straw peeps on this thread - do you guys drink coffee/tea from a Keurig or the traditional route?
Ironic...have a Keurig and just made a cup of coffee and wondered if anyone would have brought that up in this thread. I only drink 2 cups a day and nobody else in the house drinks coffee at all so putting on a pot, even the small 4 cup variety isn't really an option.
 
Ironic...have a Keurig and just made a cup of coffee and wondered if anyone would have brought that up in this thread. I only drink 2 cups a day and nobody else in the house drinks coffee at all so putting on a pot, even the small 4 cup variety isn't really an option.

There are reusable K-Cup pods you can get. Then you get your own coffee and put it in those. No plastic cups to throw out every time.
 
There are reusable K-Cup pods you can get. Then you get your own coffee and put it in those. No plastic cups to throw out every time.
I've tried those and also previously had a Hamilton Beach Scoop which doesn't use the cups. Problem is, I like a variety of flavors and found that it's hard to keep several bags of ground coffee fresh, even in the refrigerator. Think I have like 7 different varieties of coffee in the little drawer below my Keurig, plus hot chocolate.
 


We bring reusable straws and try to give them as much as possible in our FE in hopes of other people picking up on doing this as well. We do the same in WDW, since we always have a backpack anyway and on the cruise we are usually carrying our reusable cups, so it's not too awkward carrying them around! LOL
 
Ironic...have a Keurig and just made a cup of coffee and wondered if anyone would have brought that up in this thread. I only drink 2 cups a day and nobody else in the house drinks coffee at all so putting on a pot, even the small 4 cup variety isn't really an option.

That’s my situation too, but the 4-cup setting on my pot really only makes two cups. Well, two mugs.

Drinking a variety of blends and flavors does make it more complicated though.
 
We use an Aeropress for a single cup of coffee. We have a couple of sizes of French presses, including a small that makes about a cup and a half to two cups depending how large of a cup of coffee you want to use but the Aeropress is quick and makes a great cup of coffee. The bonus is it is easy to travel with. We did buy the reusable filters to go with it.
 


My husband uses a Keurig, but he does it with the pods that he can refill himself, so there is less waste. We are not HUGE save the earth/recycler types, in fact as someone said above, we to are pretty half assed about it but we do recycle and try to do our part.
 
If EVERYONE just did a little it would be a HUGE improvement. We use a Keurig but drink very little coffee so it works out to very little waste. Some things we could all do a better job of include:
* Straws. Enough said.
* Don't walk by trash. If it's on the ground, pick it up. (yes, I do have limits on what I'll pick up). Trash left to blow around
* Use the appropriate trash/recycle can when available. I see people throw bottles in the trash when there is a bottle bin right next to the trash bin. Can't understand that.
* Use less water. Lots of opportunity there. We cut our water bill dramatically by installing a smart irrigation controller called the Rain Machine.
* Use less energy. Electricity, natural gas, gasoline, diesel, whatever it is each of us uses. How can we use less of it?

All of these apply when on board the ship. Any ship really. Turn off lights when leaving the stateroom. Re use towels. Only take pool towels you really need. Use refillable cups for drinks.
 
If EVERYONE just did a little it would be a HUGE improvement. We use a Keurig but drink very little coffee so it works out to very little waste. Some things we could all do a better job of include:
* Straws. Enough said.
* Don't walk by trash. If it's on the ground, pick it up. (yes, I do have limits on what I'll pick up). Trash left to blow around
* Use the appropriate trash/recycle can when available. I see people throw bottles in the trash when there is a bottle bin right next to the trash bin. Can't understand that.
* Use less water. Lots of opportunity there. We cut our water bill dramatically by installing a smart irrigation controller called the Rain Machine.
* Use less energy. Electricity, natural gas, gasoline, diesel, whatever it is each of us uses. How can we use less of it?

All of these apply when on board the ship. Any ship really. Turn off lights when leaving the stateroom. Re use towels. Only take pool towels you really need. Use refillable cups for drinks.
Try to do a some of that...

* I actually prefer to drink straight from a cup and when in a restaurant always do so. If I'm eating while driving...which I probably do more than I should, especially when running errands during lunch hour it's nearly impossible to not use a straw unless I feel like wearing whatever I'm drinking.
* I do pick up trash when I see it...unless it's really gross...then no way! :)
* We drink a lot of bottled water in our house and always make sure that every bottle makes it into the recycle bin and not the trash.
* Water...I don't irrigate my grass....the more of it that dies, the less I have to mow. The way I see it, if it was meant to grow in this environment it would be fine with whatever falls from the sky naturally.
* Don't have a lot of choices here. Like a comfortable house so I keep temperature on the low side. I did move to Orlando so I wouldn't have to use a significant amount of fuel to get to WDW and Universal. :)
 
If EVERYONE just did a little it would be a HUGE improvement. We use a Keurig but drink very little coffee so it works out to very little waste. Some things we could all do a better job of include:
* Straws. Enough said.
* Don't walk by trash. If it's on the ground, pick it up. (yes, I do have limits on what I'll pick up). Trash left to blow around
* Use the appropriate trash/recycle can when available. I see people throw bottles in the trash when there is a bottle bin right next to the trash bin. Can't understand that.
* Use less water. Lots of opportunity there. We cut our water bill dramatically by installing a smart irrigation controller called the Rain Machine.
* Use less energy. Electricity, natural gas, gasoline, diesel, whatever it is each of us uses. How can we use less of it?

All of these apply when on board the ship. Any ship really. Turn off lights when leaving the stateroom. Re use towels. Only take pool towels you really need. Use refillable cups for drinks.

All of these, absolutely yes. Put the water one on the bottom of the list, though. Individuals being responsible for water shortages is a bit of a fallacy. Over 80% of US water consumption is used on industry and agriculture. Every step helps, but there are much bigger changes, such as eating less meat (that one breaks my heart), that would help save water much more. There is something like 50 showers worth of water that goes into each quarter pound hamburger due to all the water needed to let the grass grow, let the cow drink, etc.
 
Aren't the Keurig things recyclable? We have a Nespresso machine and I know that those pods are - we fill up the big bag they give us and take it all back to the store every now and then. I know it's not ideal, but it's better than nothing (also I don't think they are plastic).
 
Aren't the Keurig things recyclable? We have a Nespresso machine and I know that those pods are - we fill up the big bag they give us and take it all back to the store every now and then. I know it's not ideal, but it's better than nothing (also I don't think they are plastic).

Can I recycle K-Cup® pods?
Yes, but only if you separate the pod components. “K-Cup® pods consist of a combination of plastic, aluminum, organic material (coffee grounds) and a paper filter. While all said items can be easily recycled separately, the K-Cup® pod as a whole cannot be recycled. *” The components need to be separated and sorted into the correct categories for recycling or composting.

*Jennifer Kalish, Waste & Recycling News, 6/3/13

How many people do you think are actually going through all that work? Normal paper coffee filters, on the other hand, break down easily.

There are very few legitimate reasons to have a Keurig. Waiting rooms at car dealerships I can understand, as you need small amounts of fresh coffee at many times a day, but having one for home use is much more wasteful than even filling up a 12 cup pot and only drinking 2 cups of it.
 
Wow. Very glad we got the Nespresso. They take the pods (or whatever they call them) whole, including the grounds inside.
 
Can I recycle K-Cup® pods?
Yes, but only if you separate the pod components. “K-Cup® pods consist of a combination of plastic, aluminum, organic material (coffee grounds) and a paper filter. While all said items can be easily recycled separately, the K-Cup® pod as a whole cannot be recycled. *” The components need to be separated and sorted into the correct categories for recycling or composting.

*Jennifer Kalish, Waste & Recycling News, 6/3/13

How many people do you think are actually going through all that work? Normal paper coffee filters, on the other hand, break down easily.

There are very few legitimate reasons to have a Keurig. Waiting rooms at car dealerships I can understand, as you need small amounts of fresh coffee at many times a day, but having one for home use is much more wasteful than even filling up a 12 cup pot and only drinking 2 cups of it.
The whole point of the Keurig is convenience so you're correct. I don't see anyone separating out the plastic, aluminum, coffee grounds and filter just so they can recycle it.
I usually have a cup of coffee in the morning and my second mid-afternoon. Brewing 24 cups worth of coffee to avoid tossing out two K-Cups isn't a realistic option.
 
The whole point of the Keurig is convenience so you're correct. I don't see anyone separating out the plastic, aluminum, coffee grounds and filter just so they can recycle it.
I usually have a cup of coffee in the morning and my second mid-afternoon. Brewing 24 cups worth of coffee to avoid tossing out two K-Cups isn't a realistic option.

Something that I do in the summer, and that may work great in Florida, is having iced coffee in the afternoon. Brew a small pot and pour it into an ice cube tray. Then each morning brew a pot and drink what you want in the morning, putting the rest in the fridge. Use the ice cubes to make it extra cold in the afternoon. Saves time, money, materials, and it tastes even better.
 
Brewing 24 cups worth of coffee to avoid tossing out two K-Cups isn't a realistic option.
Not the green police, but I guess I don't understand the logic. Why not just brew 2-4 cups at a time? Less waste and, I suspect, less cost. For my coffee maker, 2 cups = 1 mug so that would only be brewing 1-2 real cups at a time. And I love the convenience of Keurig pods for hotel rooms etc, but in terms of every day, they are pretty wasteful and expensive.
 
Not the green police, but I guess I don't understand the logic. Why not just brew 2-4 cups at a time? Less waste and, I suspect, less cost. For my coffee maker, 2 cups = 1 mug so that would only be brewing 1-2 real cups at a time. And I love the convenience of Keurig pods for hotel rooms etc, but in terms of every day, they are pretty wasteful and expensive.

That's actually exactly what I do during the school year when I go to the gym in the morning. I used to have K cups that I would fill up at work afterwards, but it just felt wasteful to me so I just found your method. I fill my travel mug with water the night before and use that to fill up my coffee maker. I got a contigo coffee mug that keeps my coffee warm for 5 hours, and fill it at 4 am before going to the gym. It is the perfect temperature for when I want to drink it at 7-8. It's actually easier than a K cup, because this way I can preset my coffee pot the night before and I don't have to wait around for the water in a keurig to warm up at work.
 
All of these, absolutely yes. Put the water one on the bottom of the list, though. Individuals being responsible for water shortages is a bit of a fallacy. Over 80% of US water consumption is used on industry and agriculture. Every step helps, but there are much bigger changes, such as eating less meat (that one breaks my heart), that would help save water much more. There is something like 50 showers worth of water that goes into each quarter pound hamburger due to all the water needed to let the grass grow, let the cow drink, etc.

I understand that perspective in terms of water conservation, but using less water isn't just about saving water, it's about saving energy. Depending on the methods used in your community or on board the ship, the water you drink is treated in some manner before it reaches the tap. Then there is the waste water that must also be treated before it goes to wherever it goes (depending on the location where it is used). Using less water puts less demand on these systems.

But you are absolutely right about how much water industry and agriculture require. Here is an article from a few months back that provides an interesting perspective. It states that 92% of water consumption is from agriculture.

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/13/food-water-footprint_n_5952862.html
 
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