· 2 min read
illuminem summarises for you the essential news of the day. Read the full piece on The Associated Press or enjoy below:
🗞️ Driving the news: After witnessing the massive waste from single-use cups during a marathon, runner Kristina Smithe created Hiccup, a company supplying reusable silicone hydration cups for races
• Since its launch, Hiccup Earth has provided 70,000 cups to 137 events, replacing nearly 1 million disposable ones
• At a recent Minneapolis race, runners used her flexible, washable cups, collected post-race for cleaning and reuse
🔭 The context: Marathons and other mass sporting events generate enormous waste from disposable cups — often coated in plastic, making them non-compostable
• With billions of such cups discarded annually, alternatives have been slow to take hold due to cost and logistical hurdles
• Hiccup offers a scalable model: cups are rented, collected, and sanitized for reuse, demonstrating a circular economy approach to a traditionally linear system
🌍 Why it matters for the planet: Reducing single-use plastics is a key strategy in lowering carbon emissions and minimizing landfill volume
• Hiccup’s model addresses both issues by reducing production demand and post-use pollution
• While reusable solutions face cost and convenience barriers, their environmental payoff grows with scale and adoption, aligning with broader waste-reduction goals
⏭️ What's next: Hiccup aims to expand its reach, bringing reusable hydration solutions to more races across the U.S. and potentially beyond
• Adoption hinges on convincing race organizers of the long-term sustainability benefits despite higher upfront costs
• Broader acceptance could also influence similar zero-waste innovations in other disposable-heavy sectors like food service and retail
💬 One quote: “It’s just a solution to a problem that’s long overdue,” — Kristina Smithe, founder of Hiccup
📈 One stat: Hiccup’s operations have prevented an estimated 902,000 single-use cups from going to landfill, using just 30 gallons of water to wash every 1,500 reusable units
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