Which is worse: Styrofoam or Ceramic?

When I first heard this assignment, I thought it would be a no brainer. Generally, I consider reusable objects to have less ecological impact than reusable ones. However, once I began to look at the energy used in production, plus the energy that would be needed to keep the ceramic cup usable, I was surprised how wrong I actually was.

In a study done by theInstitute of Lifestyle Assesment, they tested the difference between using a styrofoam, plastic, or ceramic cup for your morning coffee. What I realized is that there is more involved than just using the cup. They also calculated how much energy it would cost for production and shipping of the soap that would be used to wash it every morning. Then there was the energy used by the dishwasher, since very few people hand wash anything anymore. Their final tally was that in order to break even with energy wise with the styrofoam, they would have to use the ceramic cup 1000 times. That's a little over three years of a cup of coffee in the same cup every morning.

Now, even though energy waste is a type of pollution, I do still think that using a ceramic cup is still the best idea. Styrofoam is one of the things that we've managed to create that is basically as unbiodegradable (is that a word?) as it could possibly get. It is virtually resistant to degrading, which just means that it will degrade, but not while I'm still around. That's a lot of foam just hanging out and taking up space. I think I'd much rather drink coffee a couple thousand times out of the same mug than cover the earth with thousands of cups that will never, ever go away. I guess it's all just a matter of opinion.