The Best Reusable Coffee Mugs
An estimated 120 million disposable coffee cups end up U.S. landfills each year.
Image: Encierro, Adobe Stock
A lot of athletes love their caffeine, it’s a great performance enhancer. Coffee is great, but you know what’s not great? Disposable coffee cup waste. It is estimated that 120 million disposable coffee cups end up in United States landfills each year. If you visit a coffee shop daily and you haven’t already, today is the day to buy a reusable coffee mug.
The most eco-friendly way to drink coffee is to drink it out of a mug at home, but if you like to get your coffee from the local café, are transporting your coffee in the car or taking your coffee on an outdoor adventure, you will need a better vessel. Before I dive into my favorite reusable coffee cups and all of their features, lets take a closer look at why disposable coffee cups are so bad for the environment.
Can you recycle coffee cups?
Many people think that you can recycle disposable coffee cups from the coffee shop, but most of the time you can’t. Single use coffee cups are actually really difficult to recycle because they are made from two different materials — a paper outer layer and a plastic, or polyethylene layer. Some areas, like Whistler BC, offer separate disposal and recycling opportunities for coffee cups. The Resort Municipality of Whistler (RMOW) Operations team says, “by volume, coffee cups comprise most of the waste produced in Whistler Village.”
Which reusable coffee cup should you choose?
There are many high quality reusable coffee cup options out there. Once you get over the initial shock of remembering to bring your coffee mug into the coffee shop and washing it before your next visit, a reusable coffee cup is a durable and useful low-waste option. A few things to consider when choosing your coffee mug:
Does your reusable coffee cup need a lid? (your answer is probably yes if you are driving or planning to carry your cup in )
Will you be driving with your reusable coffee mug? (if the answer is yes, you’ll want to look for a model that fits in the cup holder, not all of them do)
Do you want your reusable coffee mug to be dishwasher friendly?
As with most gear, one of the most important consideration is to choose a durable product so you don’t find yourself replacing your reusable coffee cup every year.
The best reusable coffee cups with lids
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Miir FlipTraveler
The Miir Flip Traveler is consistently rated one of the best reusable coffee cups. The highlight of this stainless steel mug’s design is its leakproof lid, which makes it ideal for the on-the-go coffee drinker. The Miir Flip Traveler also comes in a variety of colors and can be customized. Miir recommends that you hand wash the Flip Traveler, but the lid is top rack dishwasher safe. Reviewers gush about this mug’s ability to keep beverages warm, but there are a few complaints about the flip lid hitting the nose when taking a sip. Miir is a B Corp and Climate Neutral Certified company.
Stanley Classic Trigger Action Mug
The Stanley Classic Trigger Action Mug is a 16 ounce BPA-free stainless steel travel mug with a leakproof lid. The lid has a trigger action that keeps it from spilling while sloshing around on a dirt road or while in a bag. This larger mug also fits in most car cup holders. The Stanley Classic Trigger Action Mug is dishwasher safe. One con, is that it looks like they sell out of colors quickly, so choices are limited at the moment.
Yeti Rambler
I love pouring my coffee into a Yeti Rambler for the car ride to an early morning race start. This is a well-designed BPA-free stainless steel mug that is super easy to wash — all parts are dishwasher safe. The Rambler fits in most car cup holders and the magnet lid allows for easy sipping. Unlike the coffee cups above, these lids are not leakproof. It’s a great mug for the car, home or camping, but not a good option for packing.
The Best Reusable Coffee Mugs for Camping
Snow Peak Titanium 450 Cup
The Snow Peak Titanium Single 450 Cup is a favorite amongst campers and backpackers. These mugs are made from corrosion resistant titanium, which means your coffee won’t taste like metal. Because this cup is made from single walled titanium, it can be reheated directly on your camp stove and makes a great vessel for camp chow too. The Snow Peak Titanium 450 weighs just 2.4 oz, making it an ideal coffee mug for backpackers and fastpackers. This titanium mug is hand wash only, but will last a lifetime if you take care of it.
Miir Climate+ Tumbler
While I prefer the handled design of the Miir Camp Cup, I couldn’t leave out Miir’s new Climate Positive line out of this round up. Miir’s Climate+Tumblers, which come in 12 ounce or 16 ounce size, contain no new plastic, 25 percent less stainless steel and boast a carbon footprint offset of 110% (though their site does not explain how this works). The 12 ounce tumbler weighs about 5 ounces. The lid is spill proof, but not leak proof and reviewers have complained that the Tumbler does not fit in a car’s cup holder. The Miir Climate+ Tumbler needs to be hand washed, though the lid is top rack dishwasher safe. All in all, this is an eco-friendly choice for a reusable coffee mug for camping.
POW Yeti Rambler
Yeti makes a pretty sweet camp cup, too. We particularly love this POW Yeti Rambler, because it supports Protect Our Winters. The Yeti 14oz Rambler comes in the same durable, dishwasher safe, BPA-free stainless steel design as the Tumbler, it’s just smaller and wider. This Rambler won’t fit in your car cup holder and is splash proof, not leakproof, but this purchase does come with a side of knowing you’re supporting an organization that is working hard to protect the lands where we like to play.
There are so many great reusable coffee mug options out there that you almost can’t make a bad choice. The only bad coffee cup in this case is a coffee cup that’s sitting in a landfill.
