- Harvey Perry
- 9th July 2024
Travel Mugs are the heroes of Plastic-Free July!
Travel mugs contribute to reducing the number of single-use plastic cups that are thrown away year on year. A Significant portion of those plastic cups eventually find their way into the ocean, polluting entire ecosystems which have a drastic impact on the planet.
This month is Plastic-free July and it’s the goal of this initiative to raise awareness for the harm of single-use plastics and why they are harmful to the environment and the economy. Travel mugs are an easy alternative option for moving away from single-use plastic cups, giving all types of people including travellers a real-world alternative to cut down on plastic waste. Travel mugs are the heroes of Plastic-Free July and they are the sustainable heroes that this planet needs.
At BIDBI, we are always driving towards new ways to give back to the world around us instead of taking from it. Our GOTS organic and Fairtrade certified cotton tote bags are what we do best. Providing small and large organisations an eco-friendly and sustainable option to promote their businesses, and we’ve been hard at work doing that since 2008. To do our bit for Plastic-free July, we’ve also launched our Sustainable Life by BIDBI range, which features three non-textile collections of water bottles, travel mugs, notepads, notebooks and even pens! But we’ll tell you more about that later in this blog.
Today we want to talk with you about how travel mugs are a major way that you can reduce your reliance on single-use plastics while travelling. Whether you’re hoping on and off trains and planes, commuting to your workplace, or galivanting around the city on the weekend; travel mugs have you back in the fight against single-use plastics this Plastic-Free July.
How harmful are single-use plastics?
Single-use plastics are usually defined as plastics that are only intended for a one-time use. Your typical, low-cost coffee cup, water cup next to the water fountain, or plastic cups usually used at events and gigs are where you’re likely to find single-use plastics. Every minute in the UK, an estimated 2.5 billion disposable coffee cups are thrown away and will eventually find a way into landfills or the ocean.
Single-use plastic straws also get a lot of attention because we’re sure you’ve seen more than enough videos of turtles with straws stuck in their airways that need to be removed. Single-use plastics can often not be recycled effectively and so they are discarded into landfills or disposed of improperly. This contributes to many injuries and even deaths for wildlife that ingest plastic thinking they are food that they can eat.
Speaking of landfills, plastic bottles make their way to landfills and can stay there for centuries! The average decomposition rate for plastic cups is up to 450 years. That’s almost five centuries that those plastic bottles can be on this planet, being kicked around or floating from one ocean to another, causing harm to wildlife wherever they go.
The benefits of travel mugs
Just image this for a moment, if 100 travellers were each to use reusable travel mugs instead of 10 disposable mugs while travelling, they would prevent 1,000 disposable cups from ending up in landfills or our oceans. Preventing 1,000 cups from getting into the ocean is not an insignificant number, especially if you consider that there are more than 100 travellers using travel mugs as they go about their business trips, holiday vacations, and days out. At BIDBI, we’re serious about giving back to the planet in a way that is meaningful and has a direct impact on the world around us. In the Sustainable Life by BIDBI range, we’re proud to offer a growing selection of products that have carefully chosen because of they have been made using sustainable materials.
The Severn 1000ml Vacuum Insulated Water Bottle is a travel mug that keeps drinks hot for up to eight hours and keeps drinks cold for up to 18, as well as being made of recycled stainless steel and ocean-bound recycled plastic. The purchase of just one Severn travel mug prevents 1,000 plastic bottles from ending up in the ocean. This travel mug is a super product for improving the livelihoods of coastal communities and wildlife. Click here to discover Sustainable Life by BIDBI.
Travel mugs can save you money
Not every travel mug has the power to save 1,000 plastic bottles from making their way into our oceans, but every travel mug has the power to contribute to the reduction of plastic use production, and consumption long-term, as well as save you money in the short-term.
By moving away from single-use plastics and using travel mugs like the Severn, we hope that you’ll be encouraged to not buy lunchtime coffees when you’re coming in and out of the office, and instead you can fill up your travel mug before you leave for the day. We’re going to do some maths right now, so we hope you have your sustainable pens and notepads ready!
Instead of paying, for example, £3.50 for a coffee or tea at your local spot every time you go there; with the purchase of just one travel mug can help you and the planet in more ways than one, and put some more money back into your wallet at the same time. £3.50 over the course of a year is £182 if you were to buy one coffee a week, so you could be cutting down your yearly budget significantly by getting yourself a brand new travel mug and make your hot beverages at home.
Travel mugs in practise
The great thing about travel mugs is that they can come in all shapes and sizes. Some are small and lightweight, some are big and practical, some have handles, some have spill-proof lids; but all of them are brilliant travelling companions. When you’re constantly on the go, you don’t want to be weighed down by a heavy travel mug that barely fits in your backpack or suitcase. A small yet functional travel mug is the ideal way to make sure you can stay hydrated, energised, and staying-sustainable while on the move. Simply throw one into your bag and off you go!
Travel mugs are also incredibly versatile at keeping your hot stuff hot and your cold stuff cold. With innovative insulation technology, travel mugs will keep your beverages at the perfect temperate exactly how you like them. If you’re not a fan of coffees or teas, you could find a travel mug option that is suitable for soups. Pack some buttered bread with you, and you can have yourself a delicious vegetable soup option for your lunches at work!
Wherever you find a refill station or a café, you can use your travel mug to refill with water to keep you hydrated throughout the day. With a travel mug that can handle both hot and cold beverages, you have with you a one-stop shop for all of your hot and cold drink needs.
Travel mugs love travelling!
With their double-wall insulations, spill-proof lids, and easy to clean designs; travel mugs offer travellers around the world peace of mind that their beverages remain where they should, to their preferred temperature for consumption, and are easy to clean so they can be ready for next time. Double-wall insulations are specifically designed to keep the outside elements from making your cold drinks warm, and for keeping your hot drinks from going cold when they’re in room temperature environments or outside. That’s why the people that love the outdoors often have a water bottle to stay hydrated while on their walk, hike, or rock-climbing adventure, and also why they love travel mugs. High quality travel mugs work their absolute hardest to keep your beverages just how you like them, so you can get on with your day, and be ready for the day ahead with your hot soup, coffee, or green tea all ready and waiting for you. But how good are travel mugs when it’s time to clean them?
Through the Sustainable Life by BIDBI range, we’ve become very knowledge about travel mugs and especially how to clean them so that our clients and their consumers, staff, or guests can continue to use their sustainable and eco-friendly travel mugs again and again. To make cleaning easier and more effective, you could use vinegar or baking soda to get a good, deep clean on your mugs. A lot of the travel mugs in the Sustainable Life Rivers Collection are dishwasher safe, but always make sure you are cleaning your travel mugs thoroughly before using them again.
For a simple grab and go travel mug option, the Medway Americano 350 ML Tumbler With Spill Proof Lid is a great travel mug in schools, office spaces, and for plane-hopping. With its secure spill-proof lid, the Medway travel mug prevent spillages from leaking out so you can be confident your beverage will remain where they are. Click here to discover Sustainable Life by BIDBI.
BIDBI’s commitment to Sustainability
At BIDBI, we’re serious about sustainability and to prove that we’re serious, every decision we make, partner we work with, and product we produce also has to be serious about sustainability. Our brand-new Sustainable Life by BIDBI range features over 40 new products that have been hand curated because of their eco-friendly and sustainability credentials. Featuring three new collections, we have the Forests Collection for notebooks and notepads, The Poets Collection for pens, and Rivers for water bottles and travel mugs. All products are available now, in a range of colours, print areas and print methods to accommodate your brand logo or design.
We are endlessly committed to offering the highest quality products that our clients love. We proudly offer a Price Match Promise on all of our products in the Sustainable Life by BIDBI range. If you can find a lower price from any other business, we will match it.
Click here to take a look at our Sustainable Life by BIDBI range.
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