The Plastic Conundrum or How I Lost the War

We saw Hamilton last night which was fun and really good but I was faced with the choice that till now I've been able to avoid - the sippy cup. As you can see I lost the battle. There's a thread through this blog about how hard it is to reduce your plastic consumption and how it sometimes it doesn't feel like it's in your best interest. This is one of those cases.

For those of you who don't know, SHN is the company that produces the Best of Broadway series of shows in San Francisco. At some point in the past few years they introduced the above spill-resistant cups (it comes in a larger size too) that you can buy, have filled with booze, and bring into the theater. Anyone who knows me is wondering how I could have possibly avoided these until last night knowing how much I like my booze but it's really just a technicality. A good friend bought me a drink in one at a previous show but only last night did I agree to spend my own money on it. Because I'm weak.

Fun fact, Darren Chris in character as Hedwig teased the audience and SHN about the "$17 sippy cups" during his run here last year. It was funny and maybe hit home because they didn't seem as expensive last night, but that's not the point here. The point is that I've always said NO to these because they're really thick #6 plastic that's just going to get thrown away. It's so wasteful. And as much as I love slurping down wine in any location, until last night I declined to participate (except that one time as a gift recipient- I'm not rude).

Now in all truth they do allow you to bring them back with you to future shows and have them re-filled. And I suppose there's at least one East-Bay or Marin hippie type who's done that, but I can assure you when I exited the theater last night I was the only one carrying their empty and I stepped over a long line of them on the floor as I was leaving my seat.

So here's where I stand on this. Huzzah! to SHN for coming up with a solution that lets us booze it up during the show. This is a life saver in many ways. Boo! to SHN for forcing people to buy these cups. Isn't there a greener way to get us drunks drunk?

Life isn't easy, people.