But the disposable cup is a ubiquitous part of the Make-Use-Toss culture driving the climate and biodiversity crises. Economist Madhavi Venkatesan explains it brilliantly in her podcast Sustainable Solutions: “We are in a cradle to grave economy,” she says, explaining the alternative concept of a circular economy. “We design for the dump, focused on the production and the monetisation of production and consumption. As long as disposal is cheap we just throw it away and produce more.”
