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By product life cycle, the plastic bottles are far better. The energy
cost to make them is minimal. The waste byproduct of paper making used
to be horrific, but is getting better. A little. Further, paper cups
cannot be recycled because of the wax coating. There are several
articles about this somewhere, probably there is one in the journal
Modern Plastics.

My question would be about ethics: the price of water in bottles is
shipping and mark-up. The water, particularly in the case of Dasani and
others, is taken pretty much straight out of a tap, usually with a 0.2
micron filter for microorganisms, and possibly reverse osmosis. So, we
are contributing a lot to greenhouse gasses, polution, rampant fuel
prices and a bunch of other social ills just to buy boutique water
rather than drinking from the tap. In other words, the cost choice may
not be paper vs plastic (plastic wins every time on life cycle analysis)
but social cost.

A truly strange phenomenon: at the turn of the 20th century one of the
most prominant images was the water wagon, and safe drinking water was a
scarce commodity. One of the twenty greatest engineering achievements of
the 20th century was supplies of cheap, safe water
http://www.greatachievements.org/. Las Vegas wouldn't even exist without
this innovation. And at the turn of the 21st century? One of the most
prominent images is the plastic water bottle...

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Informal Science Education Network 
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Daniels, Alissa
> Sent: Wednesday, April 02, 2008 3:31 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: rock and a hard place
> 
> 
> ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of 
> Science-Technology Centers Incorporated, a worldwide network 
> of science museums and related institutions.
> **************************************************************
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> 
> I've been trying to find an answer to this question and 
> having no luck, so I turn to my online science pals: If you 
> MUST choose one or the other, which is worse: plastic water 
> bottles or (waxed) paper cups? The water bottles are 
> terrible: the energy to make them and the trash they create, 
> but they are at least recyclable. Paper cups don't create as 
> much mess in the manufacturing, but they do create mess when 
> you're done with them.
> 
> Any thoughts? Or suggestions for realistic alternatives (i.e. 
> there's no way we can expect our visitors to bring their own 
> reusable bottles or buy them in the shop. I think we all know that!)
> 
> many thanks,
> AD
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> Alissa Daniels, Science Program Manager
> Boston Children's Museum
> 617-426-6500 x342
> www.BostonChildrensMuseum.org
> The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that 
> heralds new discoveries, is not "Eureka!" (I found it!) but 
> "That's funny..."   --Isaac Asimov 
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> 
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