Results: When Answers Lead to More Questions

Apparently there are many, many disposable plastic cups of dubious origin languishing in North American cupboards along with many others purchased for their undeniable usefulness. Where do you fall on the Cup Continuum below?

Somehow I had managed to miss hearing the Toby Keith song, "Red Solo Cup" until several comments on a recent survey sent me to YouTube. (In my own defense, in '98 I was a 42 year old college student with two elementary aged kids and the words "let's have a party" meant planning an event for the twenty plus second graders in my son's classroom) Anyway, it's a catchy little number. Have you ever heard the song?

The song has been in my head for more than two weeks now. I've heard that one cure for an earworm is to sing or listen to the whole song, but I get stuck at the line, "And in fourteen years they're decomposable." Which is a lie. The cups are NOT decomposable. Period. Full Stop. (Don't blame TK for the error; he didn't actually write the lyrics) Did you know that polystyrene will not break down into it's component elements?

It was nice to find our household isn't alone in efforts to reuse disposable cups and (one assumes) other plastic items. Are you making an effort to avoid single use plastics?

Polystyrene can be recycled, but the process is complicated and not as commonly available as for other plastics. Solo does have a program in partnership with TerraCycle. They aren't alone. There are programs for everything from Swedish Fish packaging and pouches to used Swiffer pads and dusters. Haven't signed up yet, but it would be a better way of dealing with those cups than just trashing them even after multiple uses, don't you agree?