Many of you who read this blog on a semi-frequent basis, or get our newsletters, know that I am an avid reader of the website treehugger.com . I’m very grateful to Alys for turning me on to it. Well, I recently read a post on treehugger about ExceptionLab’s porcelain coffee cups - but not the plain old mugs we all know and love. These cups are made to look like the Greek-design “We are happy to serve you” paper cups, which according to the website, are probably the most famous coffee cups in the world (they might even beat Starbucks!). Apparently nearly every deli in NYC keeps a stock of the paper version, and over 180,000,000 of those cups are used in the city every year.

The ceramic version, only $12

These porcelain cups remind me of the clay cups that are used for chai in the north of India - although I’ve heard some disturbing murmurs that they’re gradually disappearing. When I was there, though, you could find these clay cups at every train station in the north (down south they use shot-sized glasses), and I really don’t think I could ever get tired of the pleasant shock that comes when you finish the chai and throw your cup on the ground to smash it. Whereas you can’t reuse them, it is so nice to know that with a good rain, your smashed cup will once again be dirt within a few days - rather than sit in a landfill for years. Plus, the use of these clay chai cups help provide much-needed work for Indian potters.

Although you won’t want to smash the porcelain “We are happy to serve you” cups, you might give them a try anyway. Reusable’s reusable, and they’re all better than constantly throwing out paper - but these have uniqueness, artistry, and the shock factor (try handing this to someone who thinks they’re getting paper) going for them as well.

Filed under: I'On Group, Urban Sustainability on May 26th, 2008