Red cups at parties might be seeing numbered days, if Students for a Sustainable Stanford (SSS) get their wish. The organization’s Zero Waste group has been researching and promoting plastic cup alternatives.

The Zero Waste group has two initiatives targeting cups: promoting recyclable or compostable alternatives to red cups at campus parties and encouraging students to bring their own coffee mugs to cafes. Some house managers have also joined the push for incorporating greener ordering options.

“I view cups as a microcosm of a bigger sustainability issue,” said John Mulrow ‘09, a member of Zero Waste.

Playing off of the slogan “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle,” Mulrow started the group Refuse in September. Refuse developed a survey about the use of disposable coffee cups in cafes on campus and red cup waste at parties, also investigating alternatives. The group has since become a project of SSS.

The recycling symbol on the bottom of red cups is misleading because they are made of polystyrene, which is an extremely difficult plastic to recycle. The Stanford Recycling Center does not accept red cups so those used on campus are thrown away.

Mulrow and others have created a Red Cup Alternatives packet, which they plan to distribute to the social chairs of row houses and co-ops. They also hope to get the ASSU involved in creating a party registration system with guidelines that purposefully include sustainability.

Some houses have taken on the red cup issue themselves. Kali Albright ‘08, house manager at EBF, now orders corn-based compostable cups from Eco-Products instead of the plastic red ones. A compostable cup costs a few cents more than a red cup but the real hurdle has been the shipping costs. The company eliminates shipping fees only on orders over $1,000, which is more than one house needs.

“I ordered 2,000 cups the first time and just sucked it up and paid the shipping because I wanted to see how the cups would work out,” Albright said. “They worked really well — people put the cups in the compost — so in January I did a group order with other houses too, which was big enough that we didn’t have to pay shipping costs.”

She said they bought 11,000 cups for approximately $1000.

EBF now uses only the compostable cups at its social and in-house events. Albright is a member of the Green Living Council, a group of student representatives promoting sustainability in residences. She said the network has been helpful in getting sustainability ideas from other houses.

The Zero Waste group is also targeting cup waste at cafes. They have produced a flyer outlining the amount of monthly waste due to disposable coffee cups and plan to post it at all campus cafes, encouraging students to bring their own reusable mug.

Mulrow said that he has yet to encounter a place on campus that will not let people bring their own mug, though he has heard of the practice being prohibited elsewhere. A self-described “religious bring-your-own-er,” he even brings his own plate to The Treehouse.

Mulrow said upcoming project developments include red cup alternatives at Sigma Nu’s annual Sunsplash party and posted flyers in campus cafes to promote awareness.