Which one is better, using a glass cup and washing it or using a plastic cup and recycling it?

In my house we would like to think we are pretty eco friendly. We recycle the most on our block and and use flourescent light bulbs among other things. We also use both glass and plastic cups (which we recycle). Now I know the slogan recycle reduce reuse and we recycle the plastic and reuse the glass but which one is better. I know that with the glass we are using water and with the plastic we use so many so me and my aunt have been pondering this question for awhile. Is it better to use recyclable cups or reusable cups?Which one is better, using a glass cup and washing it or using a plastic cup and recycling it?
Recycling plastic takes a lot of energy. It's not even close to the energy it takes to clean even a gallon of water.





Washing the glass uses MUCH MUCH less resources than recycling plastic.





(Also, it's actually cheaper to make new plastic than recycle plastic.)Which one is better, using a glass cup and washing it or using a plastic cup and recycling it?
That's a great question, I wish more people cared! Truthfully, bending over the sink and drinking the water is the most eco friendly... BUT... since most of us are civilized, here are my thoughts...





Paper cups- can be composted, burned, recycled, ect.... but they come from trees... not so good... however you can get cups that are made from recycled material.





Glass- uses water to clean and reuse, pretty low impact, but not always the most convenient.





Plastic- If possible, avoid it... now if it comes down to Styrofoam then use plastic for sure, but it the energy and $ used to recycle plastic makes it a catch 22.





Good luck... sounds like a cool science project for a student!!!
Most so called environmental life cycle assessments say the reusable cup is more ecogroovy. Ultimately, you have to judge for yourself. If you break down all energy inputs like making the glass to begin with then you are only looking at one environmental factor, energy. The reality is that the env. impacts and their significance are in the eyes of the beholder. For example, I would think that an air impact such as collecting the cup and recycling it would be worse if it occurred in CA rather than in Hawaii.





Any activities that result in loss of habitat, they are the most environmentally destructive IMHO.
I always use a glass, but wait until I have a good pile of washing up before I fill my bowl with water.
More of a general thought rather than specifically answering the glass vs. plastic question, but I just want to clarify what a lot of people are saying already: reduce, reuse, recycle are NOT equal sides of a triangle! Almost always they should be done in exactly that order--reduce your consumption first, then reuse, and THEN, only if you cannot reduce and reuse, should you recycle. As other people here have already said, recycling takes a huge amount of energy, water, etc. We will save a lot more resources by reducing our consumption than we will by recycling an equal amount. (And of course, recycling is MUCH better than just tossing it into a landfill!) Just my 2 cents!
using a glass cup and washing it
There is one other option- paper cups. This would be particularly advantageous if the cups were made from post consumer waste and then recycled again.
Glass or paper is the concensus, but don't use hot water from the hot water tap for coffee as it can contain traces of copper, zinc, etc. Start with cold, preferably filtered.
It is best to use a good quality plastic cup, wash it and reuse. Reason is glass is much denser (heavier) than plastics. Glass requires more energy to process and is also more expensive and fragile to transport and to recycle compared to plastics.
Use the glass, wash it, then throw the grey-water on your outside plants. Not only does it not waste, but in this drought stricken area it would be greatly appreciated by any outside plant!
Tough question, no one answer. Because water in different areas has different energy and conservation requirements. And it depends on how much water- so play on the conservative side- and whether you use a dishwasher (only when full) And detergent- try low impact detergents (seventh generation) rather than ones with lots of chemicals flushing into the ocean or water-table.


One thing to remember, though- plastic is forever. It's a petroleum product. Most plastics don't bio-degrade, but under heat or pressure, they Do leach out toxins. And there's the carbon footprint of getting them made, packaged, to the shelf, and then, even if they're re-used at home, and then recycled once or twice- more energy, more distribution costs- then into a landfill. Forever and ever.


Sometimes there's just no getting around using plastic or plastic-coated paper- cups- for reasons of access, sanitation, etc.


However, glass is natural, ceramic is natural, they don't leach out toxins (unless there's an inorganic pigment in them in some high concentration and even then, it's usually sealed pretty well into the glass). And they can be used til they break, and re-cycled inefinitely, and they don't leach toxins into a landfill. It only takes one run to get a glass or ceramic cup to you. After that, it's just ' don't use highly chemically detergents, and use prudence in cleaining them. I prefer sinks to dishwashers- becasue sinks have no motor, no additional electricity besides whatever energy warms the water, and I don't heat sink-water to 140 degrees, so it seems less efficient for large loads but very efficient for rinsing a single glass a few times a day.


Whereas even a re-used and re-cycled plastic cup is a short term commitment to use, but a long-term commitmet to energy use to re-distribute it, and a permanent commitment to it, in your lifetime, as a discarded inorganic thing on earth.


Paper cups share similar costs in terms of very limited 're-use' and requiring heavy re-processing and re-distribution. But at least one's great great grandchildren don't marry it, the way buying a plastic cup is marrying them to it forever.


Maybe someone has the down-low on paper-versus-plastic in cups. But I'm thinking - with ordninary use and prudence with water and detergents- in descending order of eco-friendlyness, it goes ';glasses or ceramic mugs first, then paper cups, then plastic cups. It's not just the cup, its getting the cup to you. Using a glass or ceramic cup for five or ten or 20 years, versus re-using a plastic cup five times, before putting it into the re-processing, re packaging re-advertising and re-distribution cycles and then marrying it and it's heat and pressure byproducts to a landfill forever- seems like, well from that perspective, the math's not as complicated, even in a 'desert versus urban mountain runoff reservoir' and 'plain warm water versus dishwasher and commercial detergent' scenario. It goes through the production, packaging, advertising and distro cycle once or twice in 20 years.That's pretty efficient. And, to re-use a plastic cup five times before it breaks? You still have to wash it, so it's the same question as not-re-using the cup, if washing is the only energy consuming distinction.