What to do with plastic cold drink cups?

[Joe Kennedy]

Over on the Eastside Life Community Blog, Iris Kao asks what should be done with plastic cold drink cups now that they are not being recycled in Bellevue. Any ideas?

[Malissa Gatton]

Seattle Green Drinks asks people to bring their own cups. If we all can't do something as simple as this, I shudder to think how we will solve all the things we will need to in the future.......

[Joe Kennedy]

Hi Melissa - we do the same thing as Seattle GreenDrinks (requesting that people bring their own drinking vessels), but I think Iris is referring to a daily challenge she is facing with what to do

[Christine Addison]

1. Don't buy any new ones! Bring your favorite reusable cup (or two) with you when you go out to eat/drink and use it instead of that new plastic. The world could change a lot if people simply didn't use disposable plastic whenever they could avoid it. If you must use disposable cups, use paper.
2. If you have some plastic cold drink cups already, use them like glass and ceramic cups - use, wash, rinse, dry, store, repeat.
3. Wthey are no longer usable for drinking, reinvent a new use for them, i.e. get a child (or allow your inner child) to draw cool artwork on one, put it on the corner of the sink, and use it to hold your used teabags until you put them in the compost bin. Or take several washed, used ones and line them up to hold your paper clips, rubber bands, and other small stuff you reuse and recycle instead of buying that new plastic drawer organizer...the possibilities are as big as your imagination.

[Iris Kao]

Normally, I would bring my own glass, but there are times when I don't have one (usually happens when I take buses somewhere.) That is what the problem is...

I have switched to Tully's because they have the green paper cups now but I found that when it contains cold drinks, the cup will eventually soften and leak. At that point, I am not quiet sure what I was really drinking anymore...

Sometimes I worry about adding things to recyclable items, since the process might make them un-recyclable.

Boy, lots to think about, isn't it?!