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“Wipe Out” article in Grid Magazine #031

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Do you ever wonder about napkins?  It’s definitely an item that I think about constantly and I can’t tell if I’m perceived as dirty for denying them any chance I get.  Napkins are seen as this free item that can be liberally obtained in any quantity, without question.  Why do you need napkins?  Do you spill food at every sitting, or get your hands and face dirty every chance you get?

I would like to see napkins become an item that isn’t provided unless asked for, with the business in full control of how many are disseminated.  Honestly, how many times have you either taken napkins or received napkins with a meal, only to throw them in the trash after you’re done eating?  They’re only napkins, right?  Yes, but they are a resource that contribute to our wasteful habits.

Over the last few weeks, I’ve been observing people when they get up to leave a restaurant and it never fails that unused napkins get trashed…and not one or two, but a tidy stack of them.  I’m always entertained when I get to watch people figure out creative ways to use their stack of napkins before throwing them in the trash.  Wipe the table down?  Wipe your mouth for the third time?  Blow your nose?  I feel like a lot of people are one step away from saying “hold the napkins”.

Did you know that paper makes up a whopping 40% of our landfills?  This is the most prevalent content disposed, and it exceeds plastic bottles, diapers, food waste and appliances combined.  Think about it this way: for as long as you’ve been on the planet, paper hasn’t changed.  It’s always weighed the same and taken up the same space while glass and plastics (bags and bottles alike) have lost nearly half their weight and thickness.

Some paper products such as napkins, paper towels and phonebooks are made of a minimal amount of low grade material, to the point that their recyclability is questionable, but their compostability or (better yet) overall reduction is not.  Yes, it’s a low grade of paper that is most likely near 100% recycled material, but why use it if you don’t need to?

So here’s my challenge for you: Do you really need all the napkins you receive when getting your meal from the lunch truck or at a restaurant?  See what happens when you pocket those extra napkins and tell the server to hold off on them from here on out.  Remember cloth napkins?  They still exist, seemingly at bars and a couple restaurants…that’s not a bad habit to support.  If you’re at an establishment using paper napkins, ask why they can’t go with the cloth alternative.

This one might be a stretch: how about handkerchiefs?  They were a trend that hung out of people’s back pockets for a while, but were they being pulled out at restaurants to wipe hands and blow noses?  I doubt it.  The key here is reuse.

The extreme: have you tried putting your hands into your pockets after you washed them instead of pulling 5 paper towels from the dispenser?  Unless you work in a hospital, chances are you don’t need your hands sanitized and free of visible soil at all times.

Why would I pick such a trivial product to focus on for an entire article?  That’s exactly why.  Paper has a bigger impact than you may think, and you have the power to change that…quite simply, actually.  So go for it- it doesn’t make you dirtier, it makes you a more mindful and in-tune global citizen.

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“Kill Your Java Jacket” article in Grid Magazine

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Pick up the August issue (#029) of Grid Magazine to check out my debut article, “Kill Your Java Jacket”.  You can find their magazine throughout Philadelphia, or online at http://www.gridphilly.com/digital-edition/.
Kill Your Java Jacket
The insulating coffee sleeve and the damage done
By Tyler Weaver
I don’t go to coffee shops that often, but I’m obsessed with the waste they generate. (Okay, I’m obsessed with the waste everyone generates).
Coffee shops are big business, and, as such, one with a big footprint. But it’s also an industry with a reasonable shot at attaining nearly zero waste, at least on the retail end—very little that goes into making coffee can’t be easily reduced/reused/recycled.
There are a few shops that make good choices: offering condiments in shakers, providing mugs for on-site consumption, and even extending composting programs to customers. Then there’s the majority that continue to do unspeakable things: doubling up paper cups, offering only wasteful single-serving sugar packets, using plastic lids and simply throwing out unsold baked goods.
But there’s one practice—one patently ridiculous practice when you get right down to it—that nearly all coffee shops engage in: the innocuous insulating sleeve for to-go coffee. Now, some are worse than others, but are any of them even good, let alone neutral? I mean, we’re talking about a mass-consumed item that a) didn’t exist 20 years ago, b) exists only to protect the hands of people who didn’t bring a reusable travel mug (or can’t figure out how to hold a hot cup of coffee without burning themselves) and c) is probably seen as a preemptive device for our wildly litigious society.
I burn my hand occasionally, but that’s because I’m a klutz; it doesn’t make me think that I need to kill a tree to span the 10 minutes between when I get my coffee and when it cools enough for me to pick it up without caution.
I’m depressed, fascinated and dumbfounded by coffee sleeves. I just wiki-ed the term “coffee sleeve” and found that they were invented in 1993 by some dude named Jay Sorenson. (Thanks Jay! That would rule if you’re retired on an island living off of patent money from your “java jackets.“) Anyway, I collected a whole bunch of these things from coffee shops across town to get an idea of what’s being used, and why.
I had no idea that coffee insulators came in so many different sizes and styles (and I certainly didn’t know they’d become a space for glossy advertising. $2 off my next Visine purchase? Sweet.).
One common trait among cardboard sleeves (and plenty of other paper products) is that they want you to know how much recycled content they consist of.  Keep in mind the difference between something boasting a recycling symbol, the level of post-consumer content, and that its simply “recyclable“ (one of my favorite greenwashing terms).
 
  In the above picture of various sleeves I collected (click to enlarge), the best is the bland looking one with 100 percent recycled paper and made of 90 percent post consumer material. The worst (of the cardboard candidates) is definitely the Saxbys: “100 percent recyclable and post-consumer.“  Yes, cardboard is recyclable, but how much post-consumer content is there?
To my mind, the worst of all of them is the Styrofoam “degradable” sleeve (sadly named the “Eco Sleeve”). Practically, there is nothing “eco” about “degradable“ plastic. Just about anything is degradable, and it will eventually degrade over X-hundred years, or break up into smaller pieces to choke up our waterways.
Sure, plastic is cheaper and insulates better against heat.  But these sleeves aren’t recyclable in any economic measure, and, practically, they do not biodegrade. This is where paper cups swoop for the glory.  Yes, their recyclability is debatable, but their compostability is not.

With millions of cups of coffee consumed per day, it’s a reasonable estimate that millions of these things are being disposed of per day. How hard would it be to tell your barista to hold off on the sleeve and the lid? Give it a shot. If your morning coffee was that much worse, you should think about bringing your own cup. Heck, just bring your own cup and help make this whole discussion moot.

Tyler Weaver is a garbage and compost expert who’s been obsessed with waste since he climbed into his first dumpster two decades ago. Read more of his musings at tylertalkstrash.com and crazyaboutcompost.com.
Tyler’s ideal coffee shop:

 

1. Reusable mugs for sale (with a discount for use).
2. A compost receptacle available for customers next to the recycling can and trash can (which should have next to nothing in it)
3. Give away coffee grinds to anyone interested in starting a composting effort at home. Have a composting 101 fact sheet on hand for the curious (Starbucks claims to do this, although I haven’t found one that knows about this program, even in San Francisco).
4. Environmentally preferable purchasing program created by the coffee shop to minimize impact up front, including no “degradable“ coffee sleeves and minimal usage of plastics.
5. No single-use items. Feature a sign explaining why they’re lame.
6. Composting of baked goods and coffee grinds. If paying for composting is totally unreasonable (check out Bennett Compost or Philly Compost first), build a simple bin out back.