Water used to wash things, even with soap is able to get renewed naturally through the earth. By the time your soapy water reaches underground water sources it will be filtered and you can drink it again once it is pulled up from the ground. Plus they do a whole lotta other filtering these days too once they pull it up.

If you live in a city, water is probably all treated at the local treatment center. But if you are on your own septic, you have a water drain area where excess water runs into the ground. Take a look at most peoples yards or area where the septic field is and you will only see GREEN plant matter, very lush (maybe even the only green) regardless of the chemicals that are poured through that thing! I’m not sure why that is, but I can spot it on most properties, maybe it is because the chemicals are diluted? I have no idea!

Can’t say the same is true for manufacturing plastic or other toxic substances, as that stuff is just flat out toxic and properly kills the air.

@Renee: We drink mostly water so a rinse is great!

If you are taking your cups outside, rinsing them with water over dirt and not using any soap, then I concede the point: that is clearly better. I would argue, though, that this would be a TINY proportion of the total dishwashing going on in the world. Water going down the drain isn’t simply rereleased into the environment, either, because there is a lot of food waste mixed in with it, typically.

I hear your point, but there’s still a cost to washing cups that you don’t incur if you reuse a disposable cup multiple times.

Washing something is not wasting water! If you wash something with water and if you have a normal water drain hopefully or if you just plain wash it out over the dirt, the earth with naturally filter it and it will go back into your well system or other system to be reused again. Washing = good!

I won’t deny that foam isn’t bad, too, but there are ‘hidden’ costs to the other alternatives that people may not always consider. Personally I use ceramic cups and try not to wash it after just one use. But a foam cup, unfortunately, may use fewer natural resources if you look at the entire beginning-to-end lifestyle.