Takeaway cups and plastic pollution

Over the past decade or so, cafe' culture has become a huge part of our lives, across the world. In Maldives too this trend has caught up well and strong. Most of us live in congested, small boxes and cafe's have become a great escape space whether it is to catch up with friends, make a business deal or to go on a date. 

While at the cafe's we usually order a coffee, tea or a cool drink  commonly served in a cardboard cup with a single use plastic lids on them. These cardboard cups may look like they are made of paper, which we all know are biodegradable. But the problem is they are not only made of paper. In fact, they have more plastic in them than cardboard.

For liquids to be contained inside the cup, the inner lining has to be made waterproof. This is where the plastic comes into the picture. 

Each cup is lined with a thin layer of plastic, which means it is not recyclable. Each one of these single use "cardboard" cups gets thrown into a bin and ends up in the landfill, such as Thilafushi or one of the garbage islands that has formed across the oceans of the world. 

An estimated 50 billion single use cups end up in landfills every year.

Plastic such as polystyrene break down into microscopic pieces and get ingested by marine life and birds. The micro-plastic then end up back in our food chain, when we consume/ ingest fish and other marine animals. 

Why Resuable Metal Flasks?

Can we change this monstrous pollution problem without having to give up the glorious cafe' culture? Yes we can. 

Let us introduce you to the reusable metal flask. These flasks are designed to reduce its impact on the environment and consequently reduces cost too!

Steel and rubber are sustainable materials

Each flask is made of double walled food grade stainless steel.

Steel is long lasting and one of the safest food grade material. Stainless steel is an alloy composing of natural elements and are completely free of toxic chemicals such as BPA and phthalates which are found in plastic and aluminium containers. 

Steel and rubber do not require waterproof coating of plastic to contain your drink and will also last many years in the same condition.

 The two metal walls of the flask has small space of air in between them which acts as an insulator. This keeps your drink as cool or warm as it was made fresh, for up to 12 hours.  

Stay out of the waste circle. 

Reusable flasks are designed for sustainability; meaning they can be used over and over again without having to throw them out. They are strong, hardy and durable. 

By being durable they avoid contributing to the global waste problem as well as the ocean plastic pollution.

Encourage sustainable lifestyle

Sustainable lifestyle involves reducing one's personal consumption of natural resources. In order to live sustainably it is also important to create less waste.

Reducing an individual's waste production involves replacing single use products with reusable daily use alternatives, such as cloth bags over plastic bags and reusable cups over single use cups. 

If every individual in a society reduce their waste production, it will have a huge impact on decreasing pollution, especially plastic pollution that is currently destroying our oceans.

In the end of the day, it is our social responsibility as an individual to create a cleaner and healthier environment for the future generations to come.