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Comment by 9dev | Hacker News Reader

But then, how many people buy reusable, hard-plastic coffee cups with a lid — only to discover it’s actually a hassle to carry a used cup with residue coffee in it around, proceed to use them once or twice, then put them into a drawer and forget about them altogether (I’m the first to admit that’s been me, twice already).

These cups are so much worse in terms of manufacturing emissions. I’ve read a comparison of single-use vs. Reusable shopping bags once, which estimated you’d need to use your tote for at least 5 times a week, ten years or more, to offset the emissions caused to manufacture it.

I’m afraid the actual solution is the most inconvenient one: Don’t drink coffee on the go. We won’t get anywhere by pretending we can continue living like we do right now.

Edit: found the source on the carbon footprint comparison: https://www2.mst.dk/udgiv/publications/2018/02/978-87-93614-...

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>only to discover it’s actually a hassle to carry a used cup with residue coffee in it around

Time and time again, individuals have failed to rise to the challenge of tackling a minor inconvenience.

It makes you wonder what they do with plates and cutlery.

You usually do not carry those along in your backpack with your laptop, do you?

I fail to see why carrying something next to your laptop means you don’t clean it.

Ackshually, I do have a spork[0] with me at all times. It just goes in a tiny side pocket in my backpack with a few napkins and a bottle of hand sanitiser.

I use it when I need to grab something to eat from a store, some pre-packaged salads for example don't come with cutlery or it's so bad I'd rather not use it.

I can lick it and wipe it with the napkins and put it back in the backpack. Most of the times I remember to wash it properly when I get back home :)

[0] https://kupilka.fi/en/shop/kupilka-spork-225-3/

I'm envisioning you walking into a McDonalds - "Oh no, I'll take my McChicken on the plate please, fries in this bowl".

IIRC a polyester reusable bag is something like 90 uses to break even in terms of emissions (high but very achievable) while a cotton bag is something like 9000 uses (unlikely to happen for the average bag).

Cotton requires insane amounts of water to produce IIRC, that’s the biggest contributor in its high number

What about the stiffer plastic reusable bags? My cotton tote bags I do basically plan on using for the rest of my life, but I don't typically use them for groceries.

> Reusable shopping bags once, which estimated you’d need to use your tote for at least 5 times a week, ten years or more, to offset the emissions caused to manufacture it.

This is obviously misinformation. Any time some industry is under attack, then all of a sudden “studies” appear that show these wild numbers that “prove” the status quo is “actually better for sure really I promise”, I don’t even need to read further. They either made up the data completely, or cherry-picked to such a level that it would only apply in the most unrealistic scenario.

A key clue here is the focus on manufacturing energy costs. What about the ongoing environmental impact of discarded bags clogging up rivers and oceans? What about the degradation into microplastic? There are probably dozens of other factors also not accounted for in studies like that.

> you’d need to use your tote for at least 5 times a week, ten years or more

You should easily be able to spot this misinformation. A re-useable bag is not 2500x more emissions than a disposable.

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