Sunday, May 29, 2011

Paper Cups Are A Valuable Health Tool

By Denver Burke


At the beginning of the last century it was considered normal for people to share glasses to drink water at faucets in public places like schools and hospitals. This was deemed unhygienic and cause for concern. As a result disposable paper cups was born.

A study was published by a biology professor based on research which was done in public schools. It outlined the dangers of the practice of sharing drink containers. The study was published in 1908 by a very popular magazine.

Soon after this the health cup invented. The banning of shared drink containers came about. This banning spread to trains and by 1917 shared glasses were no more on all rail travel. The flu epidemic of 1918 reinforced the theory that separate disposable containers were definitely more hygienic.

These cups were also introduced in hospitals. Once again this was for hygienic reasons. It also proved to be more economical to use throw-away containers as the expense of sterilizing drinking vessels was spared. The cost of detergents and antiseptics was much more than that of the throw-away cup.

The first of these containers for hot drinks were glued. A small amount of clay at the bottom served as waterproofing. A process of spinning it at a high speed spread the clay evenly up the walls of the container. The modern cup is made from a product called called cup board. Multiply paper machines are used in their manufacture. A wax or plastic coating is applied to make them waterproof.

These containers are designed so that they are fit for one time use only. They are friendly to the environment too, as they do not leave behind any carbon footprint. For reasons of health, they are not recycled either.

The little paper cups can be credited with the saving of many lives as it has halted the spread of infection in many ways. It is used once and thrown away. We owe a lot to the inventors of this modern day hygienic drinking vessel.




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