I'm sure my environmentally minded aunt would always recommend purchasing a nice reusable mug. Actually, she would recommend using a free mug you got from some sort of expo somewhere. However, there are pros and cons to using both reusable mugs and styrofoam cups. The chemicals that styrofoam is made of are dangerous. It takes energy to make every cup. They build up in landfills. However, reusable cups take a lot more energy per cup to make. Throwing one of them away seems like a bad idea too. They won't even compact. Washing that mug after every use would use lots of energy too. Transporting heavy mugs takes more energy than transporting light-weight styrofoam cups. One good thing about a reusable cup is that it has a cost more proportionate to its environmental toll. As for landfills, styrofoam can be dissolved in biodiesel and does increase energy output somewhat, so maybe they need not crowd our few trash disposal sites. There are a myriad of factors involved. A person's personal use would make a difference that might tip the scales one way or another. Some people assume that the dishwasher would be run anyway regardless of mug presence, but maybe people only run their dishwashers when they really are full, or maybe they have to run them more often because they ran out of mugs.
As for me, I would say that most of these factors don't make much of a difference. Styrofoam cups are more sanitary if you have difficulties washing your mug, or if you don't wash it between uses. However, sometimes I accidentally break them and have to get a new one. On the other hand, breaking a mug can be dangerous as shards of pottery (or glass, in some cases) can cut you. Seeing as I'm rather clumsy, I prefer to use non-breakable items or ones that can be easily replaced. Sure, I use reusable mugs because I can't get to the store enough to get disposable ones, but I really would rather wash my mugs in a dishwasher for convenience and health. That just doesn't happen in a dorm. I'm not sure I could recommend one over another conclusively. Personal preference seems the best choice at this time.
As a side note, using paper bags helps your groceries not roll around, and plastic tends to contain spills unless there are holes in the bad. Do cloth bags do that?
There are many factors at work here, some obvious, some not. That's what I wanted you to learn, and you have! Nice job.
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