01 Dec Eco-friendly, Compostable, Biodegradable, Takeaway Beverage Cups

Here at Tree Free HQ we have been limbering up our fingers, brushing up on our computer skills and chucking away the rulebook.

We are finally ready to tell you the Tree Free secret on how we get our cups from a happy little sugar cane plant, to the mighty fully compostable, biodegradable takeaway beverage cup.

Many years ago (we are talking thousands here) the industry of sugar cane production was born-mainly in Asia and India. By 1500’s technical advancement in the New World meant sugar cane crops could be planted, grown and sold as a relatively cheap commodity. Hence the booming sugar cane industry was established!

It’s a carbon neutral material, which means that the carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere through the process of juicing is less than the plant absorbs while still in the ground (Phew! less toxic gases leaking into our precious ozone layer)

There was an issue with this process though. There was a lot of waste called bagasse. It’s tough and fibrous and it used to be burned off as waste into the atmosphere with no further use.

The awesome news is that our mills take this bagasse and use it as a biofuel. This cogenerates power and heat to the mills in which the sugar cane is juiced. It’s a real and sustainable solution.

After all that, we turn the bagasse into paper. It’s a process that in essence turns the bagasse into a pulp, which can be rolled into sheets of paper. Some chemicals are used here purely to yield more paper from the bagasse and to strengthen it (Unfortunately this is unavoidable…however we standby the fact that it takes less nasty chemicals to create this than wood based paper or plastic cups)

After this, the paper in our factory is turned into our beautiful eco-friendly, takeaway cups.

BUT it doesn’t stop there…

Us tree huggers at Tree Free NZ spread the gospel (and our army of compostable cups) and look to recruit other like-minded environmentally responsible partners. They, in turn, pass on the cups to their own followers with pride. Safe in the knowledge that everyone is ‘doing their bit’ for the planet (whether they realize it in their Monday morning caffeine race, or not!)

Our little cups life doesn’t end there…

They compost down at local facilities, also biodegrade in landfill. They don’t take up space on this planet for longer than they need to… and so they are returned to the earth as soil.

Be part of a greener solution at  http://accounts.treefree.co.nz