Coffee, a drink that so many people seem unable to go without during the working day. As we all know by now, the number of takeaway coffee cups we go through is huge and the vast majority cannot be recycled due to the way they’re made. Many of us have now converted to carrying a reusable coffee cup around with us. Unfortunately not all reusable cups are that eco-friendly and sadly there has been a fair bit of greenwashing going on. So what are the best reusable coffee cups to buy and why?
When searching for reusable coffee cups the variety available has exploded. You can buy reusable coffee cups made from bamboo, rice husks, plastic, glass, stainless steel… Most of these also contain one or more other materials as well, and that’s where the greenwashing tends to come into play.
What to know before buying a reusable coffee cup
BPA free
First off, always look for BPA free plastic if you’re purchasing a reusable plastic cup.
“BPA is an endocrine disruptor, meaning it disrupts how hormones function in the body. Given the negative health effects of consuming BPA and the fact that it breaks down when exposed to water, chemists have been searching for replacements for years.” – The Conversation
Food Grade Silicone
What is food grade silicone?
You’ll often see that a product is ‘plastic free’ but contains ‘food grade silicone’ but what does this mean?
“Silicone is a man-made inorganic polymer. However, instead of a carbon backbone like plastic, it has a backbone of oxygen and silicon (silicone being the polymer and silicon being a chemical element used to make silicone). It is also composed of carbon and hydrogen.
(…) Food grade silicone is a non-toxic polymer that does not contain petroleum-based chemicals, BPA, BPS or fillers. However, not all silicones are created equal. Be aware that some manufacturers might still use fillers in their products to reduce costs. Fillers, also called plastic fillers are used to fill the space under a silicon layer. Luckily, there is a simple way to recognize if a silicone product (mold, food container… etc) contains fillers or not. Choose a flat surface of the product, twist it, and if white shows trough that means fillers are added to the product. Pure silicone does not change color once twisted.” – How To Cuisine
Whether you’re comfortable with fossil fuels being used in the manufacture of silicone is up to you, but it’s good to know what it actually is seeing as it’s become the go-to alternative to plastic.
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Worst Reusable Coffee Cup
Bamboo Coffee Cups
Bamboo is my favourite natural material. It’s one of the most environmentally friendly materials that can be used due to its fast growth, amongst other things. It can also be used to make numerous things… Furniture, socks, towels and coffee cups. I was just about to order some bamboo coffee cups to sell on this website, sadly it appears that bamboo coffee cups are not as green as you’d think.
“With descriptions such as “bamboo mug” or “made from bamboo fibres”, producers gloss over the fact that the cups are made from a powder of finely-ground bamboo fibres that are then glued together.
All of the cups tested contained melamine resin, a kind of plasticky glue made from formaldehyde and melamine. Melamine is suspected of causing damage to the bladder and kidneys, while formaldehyde is a known irritant and can even cause cancer if inhaled.” – Stay away from bamboo coffee cups, German consumer group warns
Bamboo coffee cups have rapidly gone from what I thought was the best reusable coffee cup on the market to one of the worst. My advice is to avoid bamboo coffee cups, even though they’re the most commonly found.
WakeCup Reusable Bamboo Coffee Cup
There is one exception I’ll make for bamboo coffee cups. These ones from WakeCup are made from sustainably farmed bamboo and not bamboo fibres. They look really stylish. They do have a polypropylene lid and some steel (I’m still not sure how I feel about polypropylene). An added benefit is that 10% of profits of WAKEcup products also go to their eco charity partners, The Marine Conservation Society and Plastic Oceans.
Best Reusable Coffee Cups
Click on the images to read more and to buy.
There are so many different coffee cups you can buy from a large range of materials. Here is just a selection of some of the materials available.
Rice Husk Coffee Cups
Having discovered that most bamboo coffee cups were a no-no I went on a search for alternatives. I came across several companies selling reusable coffee cups made from rice husks. Rice husks are a byproduct which is normally just discarded so finding a use for it is great.
GoSip Rice Husk Cup
Many rice husk coffee cups come with a silicone lid and often a silicone sleeve to protect your hands, like the ones from GoSip. Which, if you’re ok with silicone, means they’re a good option to consider.
Huski Rice Husk Coffee Cup
This one claims to be BPA free and silicone free. I decided to look into Huski a bit more because it doesn’t state it’s 100% made from rice husks although it claims to be “Biodegradable, eco-friendly and sustainable”. It says it has a non-slip base and the flip lid also looks as though a secondary material has been used.
This is what I discovered on their FAQ page, although they have since removed this text. I’ve contacted them to find out if the bottom is still foam:
“Our cups are mainly Rice Husk (the most possible without them disintegrating) bound with polypropylene* because its environmental impact is among the lowest of any material, synthetic or traditional, and is produced from natural polyolefin resins which allow it to breakdown and biodegrade. The white handle is polypropylene and yes it is biodegradable.
The bottom is a foam non-slip material. It’s NOT biodegradable but stops the cup from slipping around or scratching surfaces. We felt that it had more benefits than not using at all. We will have ideas on our website on how to reuse this part around the home when the cup comes to the end of its lifecycle as a cup.” – Huski FAQ’s
*Is polypropylene biodegradable? Yes and no… click the link for details.
Out of these 2 rice husk coffee cups I’d be tempted to go for the one with silicone over the one with polypropylene, but maybe that’s just me.
Glass Coffee Cups
Like many reusable cups on the market, glass ones also tend to have silicone lids and sometimes sleeves as well. They’re probably not as practical as other materials, but they definitely look nice.
KeepCup
I like how this cup looks, yes it has a silicone lid but instead of a silicone sleeve this one is made from biodegradable cork. The cup itself is both microwave and dishwasher safe and designed to fit in most cup holders. It’s made from toughened lime soda glass (whatever that is) and the cork is sustainably sourced.
Neon Kactus Glass Coffee Cup
These coffee cups are made from hand blown glass and come with an anti slip silicone grip. The glass and the sleeve and lid are all 100% plastic free and fully recyclable!
Anisqui Coffee Cup
There are quite a few glass coffee cups that resemble the Anisqui, so rather than showing them all I’ve included one of the mid-price ones. The lid and sleeve are both made from food grade silicone.
My choice would definitely be the KeepCup out of these two, I think I just like the cork.
Stainless Steel Coffee Cups
There are so many different styles of stainless steel coffee cup available that you really have to decide when you would most be using it. What I mean by that is will it need to fit into a cup holder in your car or will you just be walking with it to work?
Stainless steel cups also seem to vary the most in price, with some of them being the cheapest on the market. One thing to bear in mind with steel coffee cups is that many of them are painted and the paint can wear away after a while.
A plus with stainless steel is that they’re more likely to keep your coffee hot for longer, especially if they’re double walled, which most are.
SEPT MIRACLE Fashion Travel Tumbler
Well if you’re into ‘fashion’ maybe this is the mug for you… 😉 It’s not that good looking to be honest but it has some nice features. As well as the usual BPA free lid (they don’t seem to state what it is made from though), it has a handle making it easy to carry around.
Bru Thermal Cup
This is a particularly good looking steel coffee cup but the one thing going against it is that it won’t fit in most cup holders. It’s also a bit pricier than most on the market but is often on special offer so you could get a bit of cash off.
Klean Kanteen
Klean Kanteen sell a variety of different styles of coffee cup. Some with a more natural brushed steel look and others with a powder coat finish. Klean Kanteen cups are vacuum insulated with a leak proof cap. They’re a very popular company to buy coffee cups and water bottles from.
I would definitely choose the Bru Thermal Cup out of these just for the aesthetics. I do like to have a coffee while I’m driving long distance so I’m not sure if it’s the best choice for me out of all the stainless steel coffee cups available.
Recycled Coffee Cups
You can even buy reusable coffee cups made out of recycled coffee cups! This really is the circular economy in action.
rCUP
At least there is now a use for all those coffee cups being thrown away and these should last for at least 10 years. They’re leakproof, non-toxic, BPA free and silicone free. Also dishwasher safe! They come in all sorts of different colours, I just liked this one because it makes me think of bumblebees!
Conclusion
Let’s be honest, any kind of reusable coffee cup is much better than a single use one. Personally I would avoid plastic (which is why I’ve only mentioned recycled plastic coffee cups), and since reading this bamboo is out of the question for me. Rice Husk or Stainless Steel with a silicone lid seem to be the best options out of all them, but…
We’ve all become so accustomed to drinking coffee whenever and wherever we want, but maybe we should try to get out of this habit… Too many coffees are bad for you anyway. And do you know if coffee itself is eco-friendly? Why not have a coffee in the morning before you leave for work and make one at the office during the day? Alternatively why not have a sit down lunch break and drink coffee out of a mug in a cafe. It would do us all good to slow down and not be on the go all the time.
Recommended (go old school!) and buy yourself a nice mug (ideally second hand to be really eco-friendly). Ask your boss to provide mugs and coffee at work to reduce the need for takeaway coffees. It’ll save you money as well as possibly being the most eco-friendly way to drink coffee anyway.
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Interested by your blogs on bamboo and bamboo cups. I am the designer of the goSIP rice husk cup range, the branding and a bunch of the cups. I am gratified to see that you have followed the scam behind bamboo cups and their use of melamine. I spent months looking for a plastic-free alternative to bamboo cups.
We have to be so careful about all products because all too often companies selling stuff are primarily interested in having an angle rather than properly getting to the bottom of whether a product is genuinely environmentally safe, and manufacturers say as much as they feel they have to say and no more than that. It is also true that nothing is perfect; there is always an environmental cost and the key is to be pragmatic and to look towards making better products – rather than the perfect products that rarely exist. In that regard I am still trying to come to a final conclusion about bamboo viscose, having designed a range of bamboo viscose socks. I am persuaded that while producing bamboo viscose involves the use of chemicals that can be toxic if handled badly if the process is managed in a responsible way it is safe. I agree with your analysis that bamboo is a better crop to crow than cotton, from an environmental point of view. The key is whether it is truly biodegradable in the environment as is, for example, plant-based cellulose. I would be grateful to see the evidence that you have found suggesting that bamboo viscose biodegrades within a year.
Another issue for me is that of paints/pigments. Most paints and pigments used to colour products of all types involve a fossil fuel based component, either to create the colours or to produce a material that will stick or bond with the product. The issue, I believe, comes down to how long lasting with paints/dyes/pigments are and a comparison between the amount of polymer-based material on, say, a printed metal box compared with plastic box. I visited a Sealife centre yesterday and walked round a venue packed with information about how dangerous plastics are to ocean creatures, only to end up passing through a gift shop where 95% of the products were made of plastic or manmade fibres! In that context I conclude that purity and perfection may not be attainable but progress is very definitely needed!
Best Reusable Coffee Cups | Most Eco-Friendly Coffee Cups
I loved the detail you went in to with the bamboo, silicon/e … It is such a minefield to do the right thing and we think we are doing the right thing but there is always an environmental cost.