This mug not only saves a paper coffee cup, it's also biodegradable! I had to wait to write this post because it's about giving environmentally- friendly Christmas gifts. Now that I've given the gift, I can write about it.
The good thing about environmentalism having become so hip is that the things you do to create less waste don't get a strange look anymore. The checkout people at the grocery store just grab my reusable bags and start filling them up without as much as a second glance, then swipe the bar code that gives me a whopping 5 cent discount for bringing my own bags. I remember just two years ago how I felt embarrassed to bring my cotton West Palm Beach Farmer's Market bag to Trader Joe's, not wanting the cashiers to think I was, god forbid, uncool. Another coworker, who didn't care about things like that, had been taking a bag when she walked down to Trader Joe's, so now that I look back on it she was ahead of the trends.
But I digress. For my Secret Santa gift at work, I got my co-worker (hi Mike!) a coffee travel mug. He doesn't need one for his car since he doesn't make coffee at home. But he does occassionally (like all of us) get coffee from the Coffee Bean conventiently (or dangerously) located next door to our office. I figured he could bring the travel mug and have his caramel lattes put in that instead of wasting a cup that can't be recycled. I've sometimes had them put my drink in a big coffee cup I grabbed from the office but it's not ideal for walking back to the office. I haven't spilled coffee all down the front of me yet but I have dripped a cocoa-colored trail up three flights of stairs. I've since realized that it's easier to bring a travel mug so that is what inspired his gift. And I knew he wouldn't get weird looks because, as with bringing your own bag, bringing your own container is cool now.
(PS-After Christmas I can write about more of my eco-friendly gift giving -- hi family!)
