Cover photo courtesy of S. Michal Bennett
I was recently visiting the DOMA Coffee Roasting Company Café on Atlas Rd in Coeur d’Alene, and I noticed a sign by the register promoting a new, innovative, disposable cup from GaeaStar that they started offering in September. As someone who has co-owned a mobile coffee business and faced the struggle of paper cup waste, the simple, red clay cup intrigued me.
Single-use cups have been an environmental and sustainability issue for a hot minute. Styrofoam is non-recyclable, non-biodegradable, and takes 500 years to decompose. Paper cups are lined with plastic to make them waterproof. But, GaeaStar cups are an innovative alternative disposable cup made of clay and inspired by the traditional single-use kulhar pottery cups used for 5,000 years by food stalls in India to serve hot beverages. The GaeaStar cup is simply made of clay, water, and salt. It’s also low-energy 3D-printed, leakproof, stackable, and reusable. It’s delicate yet sturdy, and if it ever breaks, it easily returns to the dust it was before.
DOMA has always promoted conservation and sustainability through its support and business practices, so offering this cup aligns perfectly with that tradition. “At our café and coffee lab,” says Muir Harrison, DOMA’s CEO, “we encourage people to bring their own re-usable cups…GaeaStar’s mission is to eliminate plastic waste, and we’re 100% on board with that goal.” Pick up a clay mug from DOMA, bring it back on your next visit, and get a discount on your drink. Then, see how long you can use it or smash it in your garden at the first opportunity! I plan to fill mine with steaming chai and see if it can outlive me.
