How to avoid disposable (plastic) cups

No cup of tea, but a cup of party! This post is about parties. And I love parties! Parties with friends, music, drinks, snacks and a lot of fun. But! Yes, there is a but unfortunately. Some parties don’t fit into a zero waste lifestyle per se. That’s because of the horrible disposable cups that are used. Today I want to tell you how I avoid them!

Red Cups

It must sound familiar: you are invited to a party and so you attend. Great! But then, *dumdumdum*, you want to pour a drink and there they are, the awful disposable red cups. Yikes! They are often used at parties. Such a shame, since you use them only once. I used to always lose them during the night as well and so I would waste even more cups. But no, I am not doing this anymore!

Bring Your Own

You know, I get it. If you throw a party, you don’t want to be doing the dishes the next day and so most people don’t. That’s why there is only one option left for me: bringing my own cup! Since this lifestyle switch there is no party I attend without my loyal reusable cup. Easy: for the people who invited me no dishes, for me no trash. I have one made out of aluminum, so that when it falls it doesn’t break like glass. If you think of buying one, buy it secondhand. If you think that’s dirty, you wouldn’t go to restaurants either. Just put it in the dishwasher and it’s good to go. I got mine secondhand too, I traded it with my father (he got a pen-tray I didn’t use anymore). Great deal! If you do order it new after all, go for 100% recyclable materials.

Your Own Party

If you are the one throwing the party then ask people to bring their own cup. That’s a statement and gets people to think too! This won’t work for everyone since not everybody is used to a zero waste lifestyle. Therefore, buy a few reusable cups at the local thrift shop for your party, they don’t cost that much. After the party is over you bring them back, very minimalistic (or you keep them if you throw a lot of parties haha). Yes, you do have to do some dishes, but it’s worth the cause.

If you have a reusable cup like me, you can of course use this for different purposes. That cup of coffee at work for example. I would say: be creative!

Yours sincerely,
Romee