For most Americans early morning begins with a piping hot “cuppa joe.” Admit it, we all love our coffee, it kickstarts our day in a way that I think nothing in the world ever can.

Coffee has become our lifestyle and the increase in the number of private coffee shops is a good indicator of how we, as consumers, are the driving force behind this boost. This also means that we are the contributors to the very large portion of single-use waste, yes you read it right. America alone consumes over 400 millions disposable cups per day! Most of the disposable cups that claimed, as biodegradable cant be recycled because they are lined with petroleum - based Polyethylene (PE) coating and then to add we have cups made of Polystyrene and Plastic and not to forget the lids and the straws, which are made of plastic. So even if as a conscious consumer you are disposing these used cups in a recycling bin, you are not being conscious enough! All these cups once used are thrown in the landfill polluting our environment, sea, and earth!

 As much as we love our lifestyle choices, we can’t discount the importance of conscious consumption and that is where we as consumers have to contribute. Off course, we can’t leave our coffee, that will be a torture but we can get our environmentally friendly coffee fix! Few things that we can recommend are:

1. Drink your coffee at home, at your leisure, save some bucks and also save the earth.
2. Carry your own cup to the coffee shops.
3. Ask for a regular cup if you are not carrying your own cup.
4. Most of the stores carry regular flask & cups; penalize yourself by buying one of those over priced cups once for not carrying your cup and you will not forget it the next time!
5. Find your own creative way to not use disposable cups!

 Responsible consumption should be a habit, sustainability is all about going back to basic and if you think basic not sexy, think again!