No, I haven't gone all Grinch on you. But I have gone all green!
Listen, I love Christmas as much as the next cliché blogger. Come December it's like Santa himself projectile vomited yuletide cheer all over me. I can't get enough of the festive gimmicks that crop up everywhere. Until very recently, I looked forward to the arrival of the much-loved Christmas coffee cups every year. In fact, my favourite photo accessory was a cup adorned with Nutcracker drummers or Christmas penguins (Exhibit A: see the photo above, taken just last year in Amsterdam).
But this year I'm refusing to post a snap of a single-use Christmas coffee cup. In fact, I'm refusing to even buy a coffee in a single-use cup. I'm taking a personal stand against an industry that's helping us to destroy the planet. That documentary Drowning In Plastic hit me hard guys. I teared up watching that baby seal suffer at our hands. So no, this Christmas I will not be posting the latest in coffee cup 'goals' on the 'Gram.
Don't get me wrong, I would happily be all for the Christmas cup hysteria - any excuse to declare my love for Christmas to the world as I enjoy a seasonal coffee. But could we not design and promote environmentally friendly Christmas cups instead?
Scrolling through my Insta feed on November 1st, I saw a Starbucks ad declaring the return of the red cup. And since then, all I've seen is bloggers and Instagrammers (some with huge followings) sharing their own photos promoting these polluters, and prompting others to follow and share their own. How have these throwaway items become a coveted, must-have accessory in the world of social media?
I've got to admit that I was pretty angry at first and immediately began drafting this post, ranting about how unethical it is to encourage and even glamourise these cups. I know this is a trend I've previously bought into myself, but this year it just feels different. We're all so aware of the damage these items are doing, we're all discussing the impacts of plastic and fast-fashion and the fact that we only have 12 years to stop climate change, so surely we should all know better? We're all ethically responsible for the things we choose to promote.
But, to their credit, Starbucks is actually selling reusable red cups, which I spotted when I popped in recently with my own reusable to get my first festive drink of the season (a Toffee Nut Latte, which can be veganised fyi and tastes incredible!) But wouldn't it be so much better if their ads and paid-partnerships promoted the reusable cup? Then the message would be loud and clear: red cups aren't just for Christmas!
I feel really strongly that we all have to think about the message we're sending when we buy into the disposable trend. It was recently reported that sales of disposable coffee cups have gone up by more than a million a day in the last two years, despite the increase in attention to this problem.
I don't want to sound preachy or suggest if you use a disposable cup you're the devil. Of course, there's always going to be the occasional time we forget to take our own cup and have to grab a disposable to go, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't be trying to make better choices where we can. You know, be the change and all that. So *waves* hey big chains, I'm available for an eco parntership ;)
Because this year, I've decided that instead of posing with a Christmas coffee cup to declare my love of the holidays, I'm going to pose with an eco cup and declare my love for the planet. And I'd love for you to join me. After all, what's more festive than doing good?
Excellent post!
ReplyDeleteThanks Kelsey :D
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