Even in the digital age, old-fashioned coffee paper cups are still a popular way of serving hot drinks. In fact, it’s estimated that there are over 25 billion paper cups used every year in the U.S. alone. They’re cheap, convenient, and they can be recycled if they’re not suitable for cleaning or reusing as an everyday drinking cup.
These benefits of drinking coffee from paper cups may seem unimportant if you usually drink your coffee from a mug at home or a thermos flask when you’re out and about.
But once you start thinking about all the different places where you can get a hot drink – like at work, in cafes, and even drive-through fast food restaurants – it starts to make sense to order iced drinks in paper cups more often than not.
1. They’re disposable, so they’re more eco-friendly than ceramic mugs.
One of the most important benefits of drinking coffee from paper cups is that they’re disposable. This means that you don’t have to worry about washing them, which is a huge advantage compared to coffee mugs. Ceramic mugs are often advertised as being eco-friendly, but paper cups are even more environmentally friendly. This is because they’re not suitable for long-term use: they’re made to be disposable, so once you’ve finished your drink you can throw the cup away.
If you use a ceramic mug regularly, then you’re consuming a lot more resources than you would if you were using disposable paper cups.
2. They’re cheap, so you don’t have to worry about breaking or losing them.
Another great benefit of drinking coffee from paper cups is how cheap they are. If you order a drink from a coffee shop or café and ask for it to be served in a ceramic mug, there’s a good chance that the mug will cost more than the coffee you ordered.
With paper cups, you don’t have to worry about this happening: they’re cheap and easy to replace if you break or misplace them. Some places that sell coffee and other hot drinks will also let you keep the cup and re-use it as many times as you like.
So if you don’t want to keep buying cups, but you don’t want to risk breaking them, you could always ask the staff if you can get a reusable paper cup instead.
3. They can be recycled – but only if they’re free from food and drink stains.
Coffee paper cups are easy can be recycled. As long as they’re clean and free from stains or food particles, you can recycle them. While this is true for all paper cups, it’s important to remember that you must not be adding coffee or other hot drinks to the paper cups.
If you do, you risk tainting the entire batch, which means that the paper will no longer be suitable for recycling.
So be sure to rinse the paper cups thoroughly before putting them on the recycling pile, and to use paper cups that are labeled as being suitable for hot beverages.
4. You can get all different kinds of drinks in paper cups: coffee, tea, hot chocolate, etc.
Coffee paper cups can be used to serve all kinds of drinks: coffee, tea, hot chocolate, and even fizzy drinks like cola and other sodas. You can order a hot drink in a coffee paper cup and then add ice to the cup if you want to order an iced beverage without having to buy a completely new cup.
If you want to order iced tea, you can add ice or pour iced water into the cup if it’s large enough. This way, you only have to use one cup throughout your entire visit to the coffee shop or café, which helps to prevent germs from spreading.
5. They’re easy to hold when they’re full of liquid; plus the lids are usually free!
Coffee paper cups are easy to hold when they’re full of hot (or cold) liquid. This is especially true if you order iced coffee or iced tea in a large paper cup: it’s unlikely that the cup will burn your hand as you’re drinking.
And if you order iced tea, you don’t have to worry about spilling it all over yourself as you walk to work or back home from the café! Again, the cup lid is usually free when you order from a coffee shop or café.
But if you order an iced beverage in a large paper cup and the lid on the cup is too small for your hand, you could always ask for a larger lid. Some places will even provide lids for paper cups that don’t come with lids, which is great for germophobes who want to minimize the risk of germs spreading.
6. They won’t break or stain easily when you carry them by the handle.
Coffee paper cups are won’t break or stain easily when you carry them by the handle. Yes, they’re cheap and disposable, but they’re also strong enough to hold the weight of a full or almost full cup without breaking, which is why they’re often used to make toddler cups as well as full-size cups.
And if you’re a bit clumsy or you have a tendency to drop things, you can rest assured that these cups are unlikely to break or stain when you carry them by the handle.
7. Even if there is a stain on the outside of the cup, it probably won’t affect how you taste your drink.
Even if there is a stain on the outside of the cup, it probably won’t affect how you taste your drink. This may seem like a strange benefit, but it makes sense if you think about it.
When you order coffee from a coffee shop, you usually don’t get the whole coffee pot: you’re given a single cup of coffee; this means that the coffee is already made: it’s already been brewed, poured into the cup, and left to sit for a few minutes. This means that the coffee is already cold by the time you get to taste it, and it’s been sitting in the cup long enough to cool down to a drinkable temperature.
8. If you make a mess, it won’t be as bad as with a ceramic mug because paper is easier to clean up!
If you make a mess with paper cups, it won’t be as bad as if you’d spilled coffee from a ceramic mug. This is because paper is easier to clean up than ceramic.
If you’re working in an office and you spill coffee from a ceramic mug, you may have to go through a lengthy and messy procedure to clean it up. But if you spill coffee from a paper cup, you can just go to the bathroom and use toilet paper to wipe it away.
9. You can use them over and over again without worrying about chipping or dropping them on your foot!
Some of coffee paper cups like double wall paper cups can be used over and over again without worrying about chipping or dropping them on your foot. You may have heard that ceramic mugs are better than paper cups because they’re more durable and less likely to break.
But what people often forget is that ceramic mugs are heavy: they’re about twice as heavy as paper cups. This means that ceramic mugs can be dangerous if you drop them, whereas paper cups can just be thrown away if they break or chip.
10. And last but not least: they’re only a dollar or two at most places that sell hot drinks!
Last important advantage of drinking coffee from paper cups is that they’re only $1 or $2 at most places that sell hot drinks. This may seem like a small price to pay for a paper cup, but it’s important to remember that you can use these cups over