The problem with compostable coffee cups

Bean the change you want to see in the world...

You can make coffee at home, sure, but every now and then you’ve got to buy a store-brewed cup as a little treat to sustain your will to live.

As someone who indulges in such treats a couple times a month, I’ve noticed my to-go cups have become seemingly more eco-friendly. In the summertime, my iced coffee comes served in a plastic-like vessel with “100% compostable” etched into the cup, accessorized with a commendable-but-useless paper straw.

My hot coffee is often served in a paper cup that also boasts “compostable” on its label. The lids tend to vary, but frequently share claims like the one on the below “Ecolid,” which declares itself “25% post-consumer recycled content.”

The combination of this lid + a “compostable” cup = a mini meltdown in my brain

It’s a wonderful thing that an increasing number of coffee spots are adopting greener disposables, but, then again, are they really?

When it comes to “compostable” cups, I’m always left puzzled: Where the hell do I throw this away? The cafe will usually have a recyclables bin and a regular trash bin… does it go in either of these? Am I meant to take the cup home and bury it in my backyard (don’t have one)? Or do I need to travel to a compost facility of some kind to return the cup back to the soil?

“Compostable products ideally should be composted,” Tim Steckel, founder of Compost Marketing Agency, told me in a very fun conversation over Zoom (we loled, we bemoaned, we shook our fists). When coffee stores offer these compostable cups, but only trash and recycling without compost? “That’s kind of pointless,” Tim said.

Still, it’s a little more nuanced — so we pause before writing off the trend as simply dumb, which is usually my first instinct (#growth). There needs to be a transition phase around adopting compostable materials. “If we don’t have compostable cups, they can’t get composted. If we don’t have composters…. it’s a bit of a chicken or egg situation,” Tim said.

So, fine. Maybe we give our coffee shops some grace: Buying into compostable materials is a good first step. To speed up the transition phase (aka persuade your local shop to invest in a compost bin of some kind), Tim suggests feigning naivety. Ask the barista, “Hey, where’s your compost bin? Where can I put this?” when you’re done with your drink — even if you very well know they don’t have a bin.

Continue to ask the question. It can be the start of a valuable conversation — it’s possible the coffee shop isn’t even aware that investing in compostable disposables is near-useless without also investing in a bin for compost.

To me, this whole thing seems to be a mix of greenwashing, genuine attempts to do better and lack of education. To Tim, “It’s a whole big clusterfuck.” Rules and regulations around composting are confusing, and they vary in every zip code, making it seem impossible to get it right. It’s going to take a lot of boring legislation to make compost ubiquitous in this country, but it can happen.

And the coffee shop is a great place to bean the change you want to see in the world. As Tim explained, coffee stores already have a regular output of product to compost (coffee grinds are basically the Father of Compost), so a lot of progress can stem from these retailers. Just keep asking questions, keep being curious and keep being kind.

In the meantime

As you continue to have nagging conversations with your barista, put your compostable cup in the trash if your only option is trash or recycling. Or, you know, bring your own cup — even Starbucks wants you to!! The green mermaid just launched a reusable cup option for mobile and drive-thru orders. Looks like at least one mermaid is committing to her new year’s resolution, am I right?!!!!!