Environmental Pondering - Red Robin

Good Day Boys & Girls!

Uppity Owl is all about finding ways to keep our beautiful planet free of harmful things. One way to do this is to think and talk about finding solutions to our environmental problems. Here is the Environmental Pondering of the week.
Be sure to talk about it with a friend or parent...or better yet, think about what you can do to help solve the problem and ask an adult to help you take action!

Environmental Pondering of the Week

When I was shopping at the mall today, I noticed there were some plastic cups thrown away in a trash can. Not a recycling bin. I was saddened to think those cups might end up in a landfill. Then I wondered where they came from. They were clear plastic cups with cool graphic print, red lids and red straws. They looked familiar to me but I wasn't sure where they came from.

As my 3 year old told his daddy goodbye, he told me he was hungry and that his tummy was empty. Well, then, I just had to make sure he had something to eat. We stopped in one of our favorite restaurants, Red Robin. When the waitress gave my son his drink, I recognized the cup. It was the same cup I saw in the trash earlier.

Questions

Why were the cups thrown in the trash instead of a recycling bin? 

What could be done to keep this from happening in the future?

Hint

The cups could of been recycled because they had this marking on the bottom:

"The PP stands for Polypropylene which is a type of plastic."

Photo Evidence

 "My 3 year old enjoying his menu at Red Robin."

  

 "The evidence. The same exact cups I saw in the trash earlier. I took my sons cup home. I will reuse it until it's too weak to function, then I will throw it into a recycling bin."

 

 

 "Proof that this cup could of been recycled."