It’s Time to Bring Your Own Cup: Resisting Single-Use Plastics as a Consumer

If you’re reading this blog, I’m sure that you’re aware of the harmful effects of plastic pollution and the sheer amount of it in the world. While I usually take the time to write my monthly blog post on a more niche or underacknowledged environmental issue, I wanted to use my October blog as an opportunity to highlight the harms of plastic pollution and how the public can utilize their power as consumers to stop the cycle of pollution by decreasing demand for single-use plastic products. 

Waste generated by plastic products has risen exponentially since the material was introduced to markets in the early 1900s. The International Union for Conservation of Nature found that 460 million metric tons of plastic are produced every single year, of which an estimated 20 million end up as litter polluting the environment (IUCN, 2024). Plastics come in all shapes and sizes. Many industries have become dependent on plastic as a durable, cost effective, and time efficient material. In fact, research found that 56 companies are responsible for 50% of the plastic waste that ends up as pollution (Cowger et al., 2024). This study argued, and I agree, that it is industries and companies that most need to reduce their reliance on and production of plastic, because “to reduce plastic pollution, it is essential to reduce plastic production” (Cowger et al., 2024). 

 

The scope of this blog post will focus on single-use plastic products. Single-use plastics are plastic items that are discarded after only being used once or for a short period of time. They include items like plastic bags, straws, cutlery, takeout food containers, and disposable cups (Smith, 2023). Single-use plastics are uniquely harmful because of their short life-span and the limited purposes they serve—unlike reusable plastics that can serve their purpose for years. While other scholars go more in depth on the environmental and health implications of single use-plastics, it’s important to overview that the production of these plastics is harmful to human and environmental health, and when not disposed of properly they can leach microplastics that accumulate in the environment which negatively impacts biodiversity and ecosystem quality. (I recommend reading Brad Smith’s article on this subject if you’d like to learn more: The Environmental and Health Impacts of Single-Use Plastics and What We Can Do to Reduce Their Use) 

Many people don’t realize the impacts of plastic production because they can be mitigated through recycling. And while recycling is better than nothing, a global strain on recycling markets is impacting market abilities to recycle all plastic products. Additionally, “less than 9% of all plastics ever created have been recycled properly” (Ye, 2024). Even compostable single-use plastics have their limitations when it comes to proper disposal. Right about now you must be thinking, “This is all so discouraging! What can we do?” Luckily for you there is a solution, and you have the power to make an impact. 

The 6 R’s of waste management include “Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Repair, Recycle, and Rot”(Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Repair, Recycle and Rot – Russian River Watershed Association, 2020). All of these are important, but today I’ll be taking the time to highlight three:  

1. Refuse Single-Use Plastics

Once you notice the hegemony of single-use plastics in our society, you won’t be able to unsee it. I challenge you to refuse single-use plastics when you can and opt for a reusable material or go without. For example, instead of using the plastic produce bags at the grocery store, go without.

2. Reduce reliance on Single-Use Plastics

In reducing your own use of single-use plastics you can influence others around you to do the same. By reducing demand, you can help reduce the supply of these products—meaning less waste generation. 

3. Reuse materials you already have

The Office of Sustainability has championed so many strategies for how to reuse plastics or other materials and extend the life of materials you already have. Here are a few blogs that share some great ideas:

Alternatives to Plastic by Kenneth Kim

Five Simple Ways to Reduce Waste on Campus: Your Guide to a Greener Semester by Ozkar Anand 

Why Individual Actions do Matter by Zoe Binder

Consumers have some power to reduce our collective reliance on single-use plastics. While this will not eliminate plastic production or pollution, shifting the culture will motivate or force companies to adjust in return. This is the ultimate goal!

This issue has come to a head on the University of San Francisco’s very own campus. Based on bin-monitoring observations by Sustainability Specialists, much of the waste generated on-campus is derived from single-use items, including coffee cups and food to go containers. The World Wildlife Fund ranks coffee cups and lids as the 5th and 6th worst single-use plastics and ranks food containers at number ten (WWF, 2025). Almost all of the disposable food serviceware provided on USF’s campus are compostable, but they still represent single-use items that could be eliminated from production and kept from disposal processes in the first place. 

In order to combat this, the Office of Sustainability has worked in partnership with Bon Appetit, USF’s food management company, to provide options for customers to reduce use of single-use items and save money in the process. As of October 2025, customers can bring in reusable cups and receive a $0.25 discount at all cafés on campus. Additionally, customers are encouraged to dine-in at campus dining halls—ask “for here” instead of “to go”—to save on the $0.75 cost of a to-go container and reduce waste. 

This is just one way that people can reduce their reliance on single-use plastics and their waste footprints. It fits within a larger movement happening in San Francisco and beyond to “Bring Your Own Cup” (BYOC). The BYOC movement is happening around the world and offers a consumer-driven approach to reducing waste and reliance on single-use plastics. In San Francisco, “Bring your Own Cup, Bay Area” has been championed by the San Francisco Department of Environment and other Bay Area cities. They strive to mobilize businesses and customers to engage together on this initiative.

Part of the mission of the USF Office of Sustainability is to enable students to start sustainable habits on campus and to continue those habits wherever life takes them. Bringing your own cup is a small but meaningful way to change consumer habits and shift cultures away from plastic-dependence. Make sure to share photos with us when you bring your own cup to cafés on or off campus, and thank you in advance for bringing your own cup!

Note: if you experience that the cafés on campus don’t allow you to bring your own cup or don’t offer a discount, please let us know so we can work with Bon Appétit to address that. Please reach out to us at sustainabilty@usfca.edu.

 

​References

​10 worst single-use plastics and eco-friendly alternatives | WWF-Australia | 10 worst single-use plastics and eco-friendly alternatives | WWF Australia (2025, June 25). WWF. Retrieved Oct 20, 2025, from https://wwf.org.au/blogs/10-worst-single-use-plastics-and-eco-friendly-alternatives/

​Cowger, W., Willis, K. A., Bullock, S., Conlon, K., Emmanuel, J., Erdle, L. M., Eriksen, M., Farrelly, T. A., Hardesty, B. D., Kerge, K., Li, N., Li, Y., Liebman, A., Tangri, N., Thiel, M., Villarrubia-Gómez, P., Walker, T. R., & Wang, M. (2024). Global producer responsibility for plastic pollution. Science Advances, 10(17), eadj8275. 10.1126/sciadv.adj8275

​Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Repair, Recycle and Rot – Russian River Watershed Association (2020, January 1). Russian River Watershed Association. Retrieved Oct 20, 2025, from https://rrwatershed.org/refuse-reduce-reuse-repair-recycle-and-rot/

​Smith, B. (2023, -09-20). The health and environmental impacts of single-use plastics. Retrieved Oct 20, 2025, from https://www.vanellagroupmn.com/the-environmental-and-health-impacts-of-single-use-plastics-and-what-we-can-do-to-reduce-their-use

​Ye, Y. (2024, April 18). We’re drowning in single-use plastics. Here’s why and what we can do about it | CU Boulder Today | University of Colorado Boulder. CU Boulder Today https://www.colorado.edu/today/2024/04/18/were-drowning-single-use-plastics-heres-why-and-what-we-can-do-about-it

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