Sena bought some Dixie coffee cups the other day. They don’t contain polystyrene foam, which is what Styrofoam cups are made of. Dixie cups are made from paper with a polyethylene coating and contain 80% cellulose fiber by weight, according to the Dixie company website. On the other hand, many recycling centers won’t take paper cups because they have a coating on the inside of the cup to hold liquids and prevent leaks. So, recycling centers won’t take Styrofoam or Dixie cups. They both have to go to the landfill.
So, are Dixie cups more environmentally friendly or not?
I’m not sure. I know they transmit the heat of hot coffee to the outside of the cup. That means I have to double cup my coffee. I stick the hot coffee cup inside of another paper cup so that I can hold it without burning my fingers.
Dixie does make a “perfect touch” insulated paper cup which is made with air bubbles. I tossed the plastic package containing the cups in the garbage and didn’t find out until later that Dixie makes insulated cups.
The reviews on the web are generally positive and I couldn’t find any stores on the web that didn’t sell non-insulated cups. I found a few reviews advising caution about the insulation not being effective and that the cups could get too hot to handle. They’re also not recyclable at every center because they contain food residue.
And we found out that the coffee temperature gets to 160-180 degrees in the Dixie cup after brewing in the Keurig machine, which makes it comparable to the double wall glass mug. The difference is that I can hold the glass mug without fear of burning my fingers.
There are times when paper cups are handy. They’re great on picnics when you don’t want to use your fancy dishes. They’re also helpful for keeping your hands warm when you’re drinking coffee or hot chocolate outside in the brisk fall weather. But I would need gloves anyway.
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