The disposable cup crisis: what’s the environmental impact of a to-go coffee?

It's easy to forget about single-use cups the moment they leave our hands, but their slow decomposition can release microplastics and pollutants

No matter how good your office's coffee is, if you're like millions of others, you're probably popping out to a cafe at least once a week to treat yourself to a cup brewed by somebody else. Whether that's a latte from Starbucks, a cold brew from Dunkin' or a chai from the mom-and-pop shop around the corner, it's probably coming served in a disposable cup - made out of paper, plastic or polystyrene foam (which many people refer to by the brand name Styrofoam), that you can toss in the sidewalk trash on your walk back to the office. It's easy to forget about those single-use cups as soon as they leave our hands, but that's not to say their environmental impacts stop there too.

Fortunately, more and more people are starting to pack a reusable insulated cup or mug alongside their water bottle - and more coffee shops are offering to pour beverages into the cups customers bring from home. This month, Starbucks announced that it was going full BYOC: bring your own cup. Although the company has allowed customers to bring their own cup for in-person orders since the 1980s, its move expanding BYOC to drive-through and app orders signaled companies' and customers' growing wariness of single-use, disposable coffee cups.