Disposable cup facts for kids

A disposable cup is a type of cup made to be used only once and then thrown away. These cups are very common for drinks like coffee, soda, or water. You'll find them made from different materials, such as paper, plastic, or foam. For example, foam cups are often made from a material called polystyrene, and many plastic cups are made from polypropylene.

Because they are designed for single use, disposable cups create a lot of waste. Think about how many cups are thrown away every day! It's estimated that an average home might throw away about 70 disposable cups each year. In the United States, people use about 108 billion cups every year, and in the UK, about 2.5 billion paper cups are used annually.

History of Disposable Cups

The idea for a disposable cup came about in 1908. A man named Lawrence Luellen invented a cone-shaped paper cup. A few years later, in 1912, Luellen and Hugh Moore started selling another paper cup called the Health Kup.

The Health Kup was created to help people drink water safely from public barrels. Before this, people often shared a common cup or dipper, which could spread germs. The Health Kup helped stop this. Later, the Health Kup was renamed the Dixie Cup, named after a popular brand of dolls. Luellen and Moore also created disposable paper cups for ice cream, which even had fun lids with pictures of sports stars, movie actors, and animals.

Where Disposable Cups Are Used

Many businesses, like coffee shops and doughnut stores, sell their products in disposable cups. Imagine how many cups that adds up to! One estimate from 2011 said that a single chain of doughnut shops used one billion disposable coffee cups in just one year. That's enough cups to go around the Earth twice!

Another example is Starbucks, which reportedly used over four billion disposable coffee cups in 2011. Instant noodles, like the Cup Noodles brand, also come in foam cups. You just add hot water to the dried noodles in the cup, and they cook in minutes. Nissin Foods started selling these noodles in foam cups in the early 1970s.

Pollution from Disposable Cups

Making and using disposable cups can cause pollution. When paper cups are made, chemicals like chlorine can get into rivers and lakes, causing water pollution. Making foam cups can release a gas called pentane into the air, leading to air pollution.

Many paper cups have a plastic coating inside to make them waterproof. When these cups are thrown away as litter, the plastic part contributes to the big problem of plastic pollution.

Recycling and Other Solutions

People are working on ways to reduce the impact of disposable cups. Recycling plastic containers, including some types of plastic cups, has slowly increased in many developed countries, but it's still not as common as it could be.

Some big companies are making changes. For example, McDonald's switched from foam cups to paper cups in 2014. In the UK, as of 2016, McDonald's began working with companies like Simply Cups to recycle their paper cups.

There are also many alternatives to disposable cups:

• Bring Your Own Cup: Many coffee shops now offer a discount if you bring your own reusable cup. This is a great way to reduce waste.
• Reusable Systems: At large events like the Bavarian Oktoberfest, people often pay a small deposit for a reusable drinking glass or mug. They get their money back when they return the glass. This helps avoid using disposable items and prevents theft or breakage.
• Traditional Clay Cups: In places like South Asia, a traditional handle-less clay cup called a kulhar is used. These cups are made from clay and are meant to be thrown away after one use, but they are biodegradable. This means they break down naturally and don't harm the environment like plastic. Kulhars are usually unpainted and unglazed. They are baked in a kiln, which makes them clean and hygienic. Traditionally, hot drinks like tea, or desserts like yogurt and kulfi (a type of ice cream), were served in kulhars. They even give the drink an "earthy aroma" that many people enjoy. However, plastic and coated paper cups have become more common because they are lighter and cheaper to transport.

See also

In Spanish: Vaso desechable para niños