If you’re anything like me, you need a jolt of caffeine to get your mind and body functioning properly in the morning. Without my morning brew I am a foggy mess most of the day. Oddly enough, If I don’t get my morning “pick me up,” I walk around in a haze until around 6pm and then I get this crazy burst of energy that lasts until midnight. It vexes me to my very core.
I’ve gotten into the unfortunate habit of frequenting coffee shops to get my morning java fix. I have a coffee pot/espresso machine that was very expensive and super fabulous but admittedly, I’m addicted to the spunky coffee shop creations that I’m too lazy to make myself. Another reason I like to go to coffee shops for my morning brew is to get up and out of the house. I work from home so if I’m not careful I get tunnel vision and I end up working in my pajamas most of the day. One thing that recently came to my attention is the amount of paper cups from the coffee shops that I’ve used over the course of a month. One of my main concerns is that disposable coffee cups cannot be recycled because paper cups are coated with polyethylene for insulation and durability. It’s also a suspected carcinogen and coffee lids are also made of the same plastic. While your lid may prevent your coffee from spilling, it also offers the perfect environment for chemical leaching by combining hot acidic fluid with plastic. Translation: You’re being poisoned. I don’t want to be poisoned so I started searching for options to replace the paper cups. The most obvious solution came to me one morning, you can bring your own cup to your local coffee shop and they will fill it. SmartFem CEO Lea Haben is the person that made me aware of this. I met her at a coffee shop for a meeting and there she was with her cute white and baby pink reusable mug. She just stared at me with a shocked expression when I explained I didn’t know you could bring in your own mug. Starbucks will even take ten cents off your drink if you bring in a cup. This doesn’t seem like a lot but “a penny saved is a penny earned” …or whatever. The main reason this is beneficial is the paper resources that you’re saving by opting not to use one of their deposable cups. Just make sure you opt for a BPA free reusable cup!
This might seem inconvenient but you’ll feel great by doing something small for the environment that will make a big impact! That is the whole point of the Green Stiletto Project, to implementing small fabulous steps that make a big difference, and look fabulous doing it!
