Coffee is what keeps America running. Reports show that Americans consume 400 billion cups of coffee and throw away 25 billion Styrofoam cups a year. Many of these cups are made with synthetic fibers, which take decades to degrade and break down. While there are some companies that are trying to decrease coffee cup consumption, they aren't really catching on. And even if these methods did work, they wouldn't replace the trees consumed in order to make the coffee cups. However, one company has a new option that could help.
Conservationist business Reduce.Renew.Grow has developed a new coffee cup that could help fight deforestation. The Plantable Coffee Cup looks like a normal coffee cup that you'd get from Starbucks, but it's 100-percent biodegradable and made completely of recycled paper from California recycle centers.
While most coffee is made at home, a significant portion of all the coffee drunk in America comes from coffee shops like Starbucks and Panera.
The Plantable Coffee Cup does a lot more than degrade on a timely basis. It also stores a variety of wildflower seeds within so that when the cup degrades, the seeds are planted.
"After using, the consumer can choose to plant the cup within their community to enhance their local urban and rural landscapes," Springwise notes. "They simply unravel the cup and soak it in water for five minutes before planting. Alternatively, it can be disposed of safely and it will biodegrade within 180 days, releasing its nutrients for other plants to enjoy."
The cup costs two cents to make and only costs a cent more than a Solo cup.
Reduce.Renew.Regrow is currently trying to raise money for the Plantable Coffee Cup on Kickstarter. The campaign has raised over $19,000 in the last 28 days, and is on the path to success.
