PRINTED PAPER CUPS

There are tonnes of trash generated every day all over the world and amount of it that can be recycled is very limited.

Even paper has a limitation for recycling, it can only be recycled a few times until it loses most of its fiber and finally end up into the trash in the landfills. Just when scientists are toiling day and night to find a solution to this problem, a 23 year old outdoor enthusiast Alex Henige has come up with a brilliant idea which will not only reduce the waste but will also make our planet greener, saving our mother earth from complete destruction.

'Paper cups with seeds', his innovative idea of growing paper coffee cups into trees by impregnating seeds in them, meaning each cup holds the probability of a life within itself, the cup can work as the bio energy provider for the seeds embedded, while decomposing and degrading naturally..

Get the facts:

Coffee being the most consumed beverage around the world, is produced in around 70 countries and America being the leading consumer of coffee consumes around 400 million cups of coffee everyday! UK, the country so proud of its tea, is not far behind either.

The number of coffee cups ending up in the garbage every year in America accounts 25 billion and 2.5 million plastic beverage bottles every hour!

Styrofoam cup v/s 'Paper cups with seeds' - A Styrofoam cup when dumped can produce 35g of carbon-di-oxide with a life of more than 5 years but the 'paper cups with seeds' can give at least one tree per cup and extract approximately 1 ton of carbon di oxide in 40 years.

Reduce. Reuse. Grow - A savior!

An unusual invention by a company Reduce. Reuse. Grow based in California is about to change the perspective of people towards nature and show their responsibility towards saving our dear mother earth.

Alex Henige, the designer of the paper cups with seeds embedded on its walls, with a liner made out of corn starch based PLA (Polyactic acid), a biodegradable plastic which takes around 180 days to degrade in the soil. It is also capable of withstanding different temperatures of the soil, hence keeping the seeds in the viable state.

Native seeds of California are currently tested for germination rate which has given good results since the PLA does not allow the heat from the coffee, transfer to the seeds. The seeds are currently being purchased from California nurseries and landscapes and mixed in Santa Barbara.

The seeds are mixed based on the location so as to obtain native plants that can flourish well in a particular area. Now, instead of just throwing away the cup into the bin, you can plant them in your backyard. This is a good opportunity for nature lovers and responsible human beings to save ourselves by saving our only planet. Reduce. Reuse. Grow has planted 140,000 (...counting) paper cups with seeds currently and has et out to change the way people discover the values and uses of their trash that they discard daily.

How to plant your seed cups

It is very easy to make your 'see cup' grow into a beautiful flowering plant or a tree. Once you are done sipping your delicious mug of coffee, carry the cup home to give a new life to this planet.

All you have to do next is unravel the paper cup and soak in the water for around 5 minutes. Roll your sleeves up and get ready for some gardening! Plant the cup in the community gardens or your backyard and watch the cup sprout into life enhancing their scenery.

The seed variety and the instructions for planting are printed on the cup.Owing to the fact that people in the present world have time-poor lifestyle even if they are nature lovers, it just doesn't give them time to do the searching for a place for the plant and nurture it. Eco concious coffee shops have installed containers around and in the shops where the 'paper cups with seeds' are sold, you can just throw your cups which will be collected by a third party which takes care of reforestation for example landscape companies, Boyscouts, National parks and forests pick them up and plant them in large scale. Even if thrown away, the cups are biodegradable as it is made out of corn starch based Polyactic acid (PLA) which also accounts for the sturdiness of the coffee cup.

The marvels of 'paper cups with seeds:

According to the estimates, each cup is capable of growing into at least one tree since the seeds selected to embed in the cup are of native trees which means the paper cups with seeds, when planted in a certain geographical region from where the cup has been brought is sure to grow.

This idea is an exceptional gift for the future generation as it can reduce global warming by replenishing the forest areas.The 'paper cups with seeds' also inspires other products, for example, Togo containers, paper products, corrugate boxes can be manufactured using the process in the years to come among which Togo containers embedded with seeds are already being manufactured by Reduce. Reuse. Grow which will eventually turn our planet into a green, healthy one.
Replacing the normal paper or Styrofoam cups by the 'seed cups' all over the world, would be the biggest favor human beings can do to the mother earth, whom we have wrecked part by part, by being insensitive all these years.

The production cost of the paper cups with seeds comparable per cup with a similar biodegradable cup and hence is a nice option for entrepreneurs to invest.

Will 'Paper cups with seeds' become the new mania to save our planet?

It sure can be! If all billions of paper commodities are replaced by the paper with seeds and every human takes the responsibility of giving back what we have been destroying from thousands of years, our planet would be cleaner and greener again making it the best place to live in. Just one step towards the innovation all around the world would make a huge difference in the life of humans as well as the animals who have lost their habitats because of us.

There can be rapid reforestation restoring our ecosystem, purifying our air and saving our own species and others from extinction. Just a cup of reviving caffeine can turn into a rescuer some day. Therefore these 'paper cups with seeds' can account for a prosperous healthy future generations.