Biodegradable cups! Great, no? Except who would have thought that the credit for these would go to the US Navy & Army?

The Biodegradable Coffee Cups were developed so that soldiers could just toss the cups off the boats without harming the marine life. Good idea. But the cups also had to be good enough not to burn hands - the likely delimma in creating the cups in the first place. Oh, and they had to be brown so as not to be visible to enemy spies. Paranoid, perhaps.

Developed by Clovernook Center and International Paper, the cups are what I hope will be taken up by all global coffee houses, especially Starbucks. No news on this front yet, not even a hint. I personally try to use my personal cup whenever possible - it keeps it much hotter and comes guilt free. Well, mostly. I am still buying coffee, after all. :)

Interesting piece over in the comments (I love to read comments!) - Why can’t the soldiers just use the folding cups common to earlier in the century? No trees need be cut down in the first place.