Wax-coated Cardboard & Aluminum Soapbox

[da]

Walking back from lunch at the University Plaza, elbie_at_trig & I counted about half a dozen Tim Hortons cups and at least that many pop cans.

Now, I know the Tims cups have a wax/plastic lining, so recycling probably isn't cost effective (though I seem to remember that some western municipality, perhaps Vancouver(?) found the political will to recycle them anyhow). But can anybody explain why there isn't an aluminum can deposit in Ontario?

[Concerning Tims cups: I wonder how many people realize that the year-round discount for using one's own mug is considerably higher than the 1:9 odds of winning a free coffee or doughnut during the "Roll Up the Rim" month. That is, my mug rings in at "medium" but it's 20 oz. ...so, something like 2/3 a free medium in each cup. All things considered, I'd prefer they keep their empty cup, and I'll keep my mug.]

Comments

[da-lj.livejournal.com]

Heh. I would've said the same, but various sources said "plastic and wax":

http://www.theconcordian.com/media/paper290/news/2005/11/23/News/Is.Tim.Hortons.Making.A.Mess.Of.Our.Province-1113475.shtml?norewrite&sourcedomain=www.theconcordian.com

That article describes some interesting student research that suggests that Tims doesn't follow their own code of conduct on waste (promoting reusable mugs, not using disposables for in-store consumption, and so on). And 85% of customers don't know about the reusable mug thingy. Both, which I'd believe is also true locally.

[kraig.livejournal.com]

I frequently see paper cups in-store. I see it more when they're busier; I suspect most stores likely don't have very fast dishwashing (probably somebody gets nominated to check it when they have time).

They could do more to advertise the reusable mugs thing though.