To reuse my teacup?

[RatRolyPoly]

To be fair I probably take it too far at home, as I happily reuse the same mug for tea until it's almost unrecognisable! But in the office every single person uses a fresh mug for every cup of tea. We have the dishwasher going daily and we're only a small office!

I'm really thinking these days about wasted water and reducing unnecessary energy usage, but would I be a total scrubber to mention that maybe I could use the same mug each time? Could I even go so far as to suggest maybe others might like to do the same?

Is this gross?? Or just eminently sensible in this day and age?

I'm all for reusing tea cups, even coffee after tea, (though never tea after coffee), and being more environmentally friendly, but:

Do you all make your own cuppas, or do you all make cuppas in twos or more for other people too? If you make cuppas for just yourself and keep 'your' mug on your desk inbetween uses, reusing is fine. If making for others, how is everyone meant to know which was your cup, which was Doris', which was Bernard's etc if you all use the same design?

I wouldn't want to mistakenly get Doris' cup if she's got a stomach bug, or Bernard's if he's got a cold sore.

It's insane to get a clean cup every time you make a brew or a coffee. I tell my kids off for filling the dishwasher up with clean cups and mugs. Fortunately they've seen sense now and reuse like I do.

Yeah, that's definitely the issue BlackBelt, the mugs are identical and we take it in turns to do rounds.

Perhaps I'll really make this my cause and produce a tray with places on for each mug and everybody's name on... taking it too far??

Pleased to see that mug reuse is indeed the future and I'm not a total scrubby mare!

Oh, X post with the OP. I see you do rounds. It's been a non starter from the beginning then, unless you start labelling the cups.

What a tea drip feed! Time for a

It's been a non starter from the beginning then, unless you start labelling the cups.

I did genuinely Google whether there was a mug equivalent of wine glass name labels after your last post Black; I'm not giving up yet!

YANBU

I reuse mine all week and take it home at the weekend to put in the dishwasher. I just give it a quick rinse before making each cup.

We have a dishwasher at work but no-one is ever allowed to use it. I've told people repeatedly that dishwashers use far less water than a couple of dozen people washing stuff individually under a running tap, but they don't believe me. So I stay out of it. You can't get near the sink half the time anyway due to all the handwashing.

@RatRolyPoly - I hear you. We don't do big rounds, so not an issue in my office. I would raise the question that whoever is making the tea can simply rinse the mugs rather than put them in the dishwasher, and then use a clean set! What a waste of resources.

Maybe suggest a green month? Where I used to work had signs by the light switches which said how much energy is wasted with lights left on and how much we could save if we turned them off. Worked on me!

I use the same mug all day and stick it in the dishwasher before bed, sometimes. Sometimes I use it for two days.

I think that tray idea would result in a storm in a tea cup OP!

You're definitely not a total scrubby mare IMO, but as ever the devil is in the detail with these things.

With your knickers firmly over your trousers, you'll have to find other ways to save the planet, sorry.

We don't have a dish washer at work and lots of colleagues think it's not their job to wash up their mugs.
So I have brought my own mug in from home and keep it in my desk drawer so I can re-use it and not bother about washing it thoroughly because only i use it.
OP , I would suggest either you bring in your own mug and tell anyone who is making a round of drinks what it is and why or get an indelible marker pen and write everyone's name on "their" office mug.

At home I have a beautiful mug that DD bought for me with her first pay packet - it's really lovely.... but it doesn't go in the dishwasher (or the microwave), so I just rinse and reuse all day and then wash it up in the evening.

It's been a very long time since I was in an office environment like this, but I have a distant memory of using liquid tippex to paint a rectangle label on mugs, then when dry writing names on with biro. This generally survived washing, though needed redoing from time to time. Some colleagues used personal mugs and were precious about them*. The labels were meant to stop others using your mug when you weren't there. Other colleagues and visitors used any spares.

*Not including me, oh no no...

Perhaps I'll invest in some googly-eyed wine glass charms and see if they'll grip the mug handles...

Okay, now I'm really taking it too far!

Or am I?

Clean cup for every drink for me. I am a bit of a germaphobe and reusing it would bother me

Yes, use mine a couple of times, but just over one day!

💡Could it be this year's Secret Santa, if you do such things? An individual mug for everyone?

Could it be this year's Secret Santa, if you do such things?

We don't... but we could! Unfortunately the individual mugs are out as the company only allows company branded mugs on the premises. Seriously.

But I think I'm going to go full-on over-invested "save the planet!" on my teammates and splash-out on some gloriously tacky mug charms. They'll love it, almost as much as drinking their fifth cup of tea from the same mug

It's a wonder I have any friends.

Most people where I work reuse their cups and keep hold of them because all the cutlery & crockery goes missing and the dishwasher has stopped working properly.

Most people just rinse the cup between uses and wash properly at the start or end of the day. This is acceptable.

There is one person though whose cup looks like its never been washed ever. It's vile. Its brown with thick tea staining and it turns my stomach every time I see it. This is not acceptable.

I’ve been known to take one mug into work on a Monday, use it everyday for multiple coffees and only wash it when I take it home on Friday.

I do rinse in between but I accept I might be a bit of a minger

If they won't allow individual mugs - seriously? - they might not allow your tacky charms either.

We'll look forward to your unemployment or loneliness threads popping up in the near future OP

I have to say this grosses me out, tea or coffee made in a cup that's not clean is not good

Sorry, OP - your tacky charms doesn't sound quite right

That's not what I meant!

For clarification, I've never met the OP to my knowledge, but I'm sure her charms aren't at all tacky.

Could you use a Sharpie?

I don't think it's your business to be telling others what to do cup wise. for one find it well gross to keep using a stained mug, or see anyone doing so 🤢. I wouldn't comment though, as that's your choice.

I even use a new glass for water at home every time, which gets dishwashered. The eco warriors at work have stopped us using plastic (huge organisation and fair enough) but have installed glasses and dishwashers which suits me fine, if they then tried to tell me when I could / couldn't get a clean one I'd be off!

You could try these: www.ebay.co.uk/p/50-Mixed-Wine-Glass-Charms/1466433819?iid=262243460565&chn=ps

Put one on your own mug first and see if anyone else will join you. I would!