I must say that this was one my earliest and easiest swaps. The reasons are really the same as all the reusables I use - there is simply no need to use disposables, reusables are actually nicer to use, and the UK alone puts 2.5bn of them into the landfill a year ( http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-36882799 ). Shocking.
I was visiting a primary school for a week in 2013, and it was made quite clear that mugs were not communal. People mostly used lidded mugs, and people got really quite sniffy when I tried to take one out the cupboard. I went to Sainsbury's in my lunch break and bought the only ceramic lidded cup that I found there, which had a Hello Kitty design. I did think that it would make me look mildly ridiculous, but got it anyway and had years of compliments!
Apart from being helpful in all the primary schools I visited or worked at, I got into the habit of carrying it around with me. I do like to have a coffee when I'm travelling, so always got it filled up at a coffee shop in a train station, so it has been with me the length and breadth of the UK. The only one time that anyone has been bothered about it was the Costa on my university campus. Whilst the other cafes on campus actively encouraged use of reusable cups, this one inexplicably 'could only serve into our own cups'. I just avoided it after the first try. I've found all other coffee outlets I've got a takeaway coffee from in the last three years to welcome it. Some give a small discount for reusable cups (Starbucks does), and others are just charmed by its loveliness.
Unfortunately my Hello Kitty mug had a tragic accident, when my boyfriend's housemate in Aberystwyth knocked it onto the floor. I bought a new cup, but it's not as good and I miss it, which leads me onto....
Different types of reusable cup
1. Ceramic with a silicone lid
Pros -
Easy to keep clean and stainless
Cons -
Heavy
Breakable (and not recyclable if you do break it)
2. Bamboo with a silicone lid ( http://ecoff.ee/collections/reusable-coffee-cups )
Pros -
Light
Made from sustainable materials
Less fragile than ceramic
If you break it, it can be composted
Cons -
The inside stains with tea and coffee, which does make it less nice
3. Glass Keep Cup ( https://www.amazon.co.uk/KeepCup-Medium-Tempered-Travel-Charcoal/dp/B00PC9UZY0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1473083187&sr=8-1&keywords=glass+keepcup )
Pros -
Gosh it's so pretty
It is probably mostly recyclable if it breaks
Easy to keep clean and stain-free
Cons -
More fragile
Heavier than the bamboo cup
4. Any type of plastic reusable cup, e.g. plastic Keep Cup, or cups sold in Waitrose, Starbucks or other shops.
Pros -
Not fragile
Cheap
Readily available
Cons -
I prefer not to drink hot drinks out of a plastic cup. Ya know?
