Paper Lids for Paper Cups - The Impossible Dream...

OK - we all agree on this, right? - that everything we humans produce but don't actually consume needs to be compostable and returned to the environment, or recyclable for reuse many times over. And general use of anything non-compostable needs to be reduced or eliminated.

The recent kefuffle about non-recyclable coffee-cup lids in Toronto drives me nuts. For the city to not have a comprehensive recycling capability seems stupid - there is still a long list of stuff we still can't put into the blue bin - and needs to be improved asap. The flip side argument - about having to use plastic lids on coffee cups because paper-product lids don't exist and are impossible to make strikes me as totally ludicrous, along the lines of 'may as well try to fly to the moon' or 'why would I use a telephone when there are so many messenger boys about?' Don't the people involved know how silly they sound citing use of paper lids as 'impossible'?

So, why aren't forest-products companies all over this one - creating a snug-fitting cardboard lid to go on top of a paper coffee cup. The cups are robust enough to hold the hot liquid indefinitely (well, until it gets really cold and eventually leaks onto one's desk) and the rolled rim really is pretty strong - couldn't a lid that incorporates some kind of rolled-edge strength do the job? There's gotta be a way, and I figure some smart kid coming out of university will solve this one and put the issue to rest. I can't wait! And just this week came the news that a Seattle-based company has indeed been producing just such a fine product for the US Navy - go figure, problem solved already, maybe. Now that's yankee ingenuity at work - how un-Canadian eh?

But speaking of solvable problems, how about the epidemic use of non-recyclable styrofoam fast-food containers, cups and generally speaking the plethora of non-recyclable plastic containers? Remember when take-out food or grocery & produce came in paper cartons, wrapped in newsprint or on heavier formed-paper trays? They worked fine except if one was packing something really sloppy, in which case the container was lined with a piece of waxed paper. Paper-based containers worked fine then but are largely superseded now by plastics of several varieties. Don't get me started on kids' toy containers or other egregious deployments of big, hard, impenetrable plastic packaging!

That's gotta stop. Bad enough the raw material for plastic is non-renewable petroleum products. Especially worse if they're non-recyclable. Use of petroleum-based materials must be changed out for renewable paper-based where possible. Again, you'd think forest-products folks would be all over this and I am guessing they are already. Problem is if the petroleum-based products are cheaper or the industry lobby is more effective not much will change.

So - what to do? Call me a 'big-government' guy for suggesting a tax-based solution - more taxes on the production and use of products that need to be discouraged, tax incentives for production and products that need to be encouraged. Could even make it almost balanced - 10 cent tax on a styrofoam container, 8 cent reduction on a paper container (inefficient gov't would probably keep 2 cents for admin). Makes the same food 18 cents cheaper served in paper. Simple eh? Truth is, people will not respond en masse except when they see the difference in the their wallets. Just like so many other things....that's life.