A deep philosophical question has now been answered! I once overheard a discussion about what restaurants did with the little plastic cups they serve kids drinks in. One lady was concerned that by taking the cup out of the restaurant she was stealing it from them, similar to sliding the soup spoon into your purse when no one was looking. The other lady was sure that the cost of the drink covered the cost of the cup as well. I suppose this conversation caught my attention because I knew my kitchen cupboard was currently housing about 10 such cups. I was always of the opinion that the cost of the drink covered the cost of the cup, so I decided to take 45 seconds out of my life and call Wingers to ask their opinion. The verdict is; restaurants throw away the cups after they have been used. Initially this surprised me because I wash and reuse them every day and they hold up quite well in the dishwasher, but apparently the restaurant looks at it as a nice souvenir for the kids, like a toy in a happy meal.
A while ago I came across a blog discussion concerning these silly little cups. The debate was regarding the environmental impact of producing and promoting the cups; placing blame on the restaurants for using a product that was harmful to the environment. Although I’m not interested in discussing the environmental impact of one particular product I would like to say, you might as well take the cup home and let your kids use it! Save yourself the money and trouble of buying kids’ cups and use the ones you paid for at the restaurant.
