photo credit Creative Commons

As if Starbucks didn’t already rule the world, now it wants to beat your stomach into submission with a drink so big it shouldn’t biologically fit in your stomach. The new cold-drink cup, named the Trenta, holds 31 ounces of any caffeine-laden liquid of choice.  

Though the cup hasn’t made its debut in California yet, huge drinks are popular already at convenience stores like 7-11 and fast food joints. Yet Starbucks serves as just one example of the unique problem these oversized beverages bring: mass amounts of plastic, no easy solution.  

Not only are the cups a culprit for too much throwaway plastic consumption, but lids for hot cups and those green plastic straws add up too. And how about those baristas that throw away one of the plastic cups after writing your order incorrectly instead of just crossing it out?

Their mistake will live for more than 100 years in the landfill, or worse, the ocean where the cup will break into tiny particles, but it certainly wont haunt them past the ten seconds it takes to write a new one.

Despite efforts to “eco-ize” their plastic at Starbucks, there is no good way to solve the plastic problem but abstinence from the stuff altogether. Even paper cups have plastic lining so the drinks don’t filer through (and those are made out of trees, another problem).  

College students are especially susceptible to an unacceptable amount of plastic consumption since their modus operandi is always what’s easiest: reusable. Why wash a cup when you can use a throw-away, or even better,  drink out of the carton? Paper plates, plastic sporks…the list goes on.

Laziness, however, is not an excuse. With a floating trash island in the Pacific Ocean that’s estimated to be larger than the state of Texas, mass animal die-offs, and apocalyptic-like natural disasters, why not try to save the planet, one cup at a time, before the slated end of the word in 2012? The problem may not be new, but it’s definitely not getting any better. 

Here are some suggestions to get your green on that don’t involve anything too out there—just common sense. And here’s something to really convince you to be conscious of your convenient choices: these plastic-free solutions are almost always cheaper than their polluting alternatives. 

1. Shipping a package? Instead of wasting money on bubble wrap or packaging peanuts, go the old fashioned route and use newspaper instead. If you have a stockpile of plastic grocery bags (shame on you!), those are quite cushiony as well for shipping items…and at least you’ll be re-using them in some capacity. 

2. Having a party? Sure red cups are a party staple, but actual glasses are quite a classy alternative to the disposable cups. Perhaps you want the memory of your party to live longer than you can remember in a landfill or ocean, but a photograph—not a mound of plastic—is probably a better way to commemorate the evening. Buying glass bottles of beer instead of aluminum is also smart, but serving beer out of a keg in chilled glasses is the most eco-friendly (and delicious) way to go. 

3. Going grocery shopping? You’ve heard this before: take a reusable bag to the grocery store and other places you shop—seriously! Companies are dying to give you free reuseable bags, just take one already! The planet begs you to. (This would be a good place to mention reusable water bottles, which you have by now of course…who wants to pay for bottled water anyways?)

4. And while you’re at the deli counter…ask the employee if they can wrap your lunch meat and cheese in butcher paper instead of putting it in a plastic baggie. You can put it in a tupperware when you get home. Don’t even think about buying individually wrapped Kraft singles or other cheese of that nature—not a good health choice overall.

5. If you’re not going to follow any of this advice and continue to use plastic bags…at least jam as much in each bag as you can. Use self-checkout and hold yourself accountable; baggers tend to be wasteful and put too little in each bag anyways.

6. Think boxes. While cardboard may be killing trees, it is easier to recycle and reuse than most common plastic containers. Boxed laundry detergent is easy to buy, and bar soap works just as good as the liquid plastic-bottled kind. Buying tortilla chips and snacks like Goldfish in paper packaging as well as bread and other baked goods is easy too.

7. When you order take out, don’t be lazy and take the plastic forks and knives. Silverware is much nicer to eat with anyways. While you may not be able to eliminate the need for the ever present take-out styrofoam container, at least you’ll cut down a bit.

8. The easiest way to cut down on plastic? Be conscious of your choices. It is basically impossible to avoid using any sort of plastic, but it is very easy to shake some of your bad plastic habits. While one cup-saving endeavor and one green trip to the grocery store may not seem like much,  it is in the long run. Think about that bendy straw taking up to 100 years to disintegrate in a landfill or waterway, that cup taking two or three hundred, and without a doubt you’ll pick the eco-alternative. 

Reach reporter Molly-Marie Canales here.

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