Bring in Your Own Tumbler:
This blog is about encouraging Starbucks customers to use a personal tumbler or ask for their beverage in for-here ware.
Yes, of course I believe that recycling paper cups is a good idea, but there is much more to the story than simply the paper cup itself. The story is really about consumer habit and resistance to any modus operandi a little less convenient to them. This has to change. There is work to be done here, and we can only create consumer change if we start the conversation on why it has to change.
By way of background, on mystarbucksidea.com one can easily find that the site is flooded with threads like, “Recyclable Cups!“. Here are a few examples:
- “Recycle Cups!”
- “Recycling“
- Recycling at Starbucks!!!!“
- “Start mandatory recycling at Starbucks Cafes“
- “Recycle bin in every starbucks location“
(Some of the above mystarbucksidea.com are closed or merged threads).
I participate heavily on mystarbucksidea.com and often want to write long responses to these kinds of threads, but that site is not conducive to long posts. These many repetitive threads shouting at Starbucks to please recycle paper cups are the inspiration for this blog post.
*****A non-Starbucks you-tube video as a starting point for discussion*****
First off, there is a you tube video here taking a small swipe at Starbucks for not doing more to encourage recycling and using personal tumblers:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlfszjapNb8
^ It’s worth watching, whether you’re a Starbucks fan or not. I can’t vouch for the factual accuracy of all the data that you-tube video but it is loaded with eye-popping statistics:
“North America uses 60% of the world’s paper cups. 130 billion of them per year” and “those cups require about 50 million trees” and another eye-opener, “Starbucks goes through nearly 2.3 billion cups annually”
The above you-tube video is a little dated. For example it states that there are NO recycle bins at Starbucks. As I write this in November 2009, that no longer is a completely true statement. Increasingly, as stores get remodeled, and new LEED Certified stores open, we see recycle bins in here and there.
List of Starbucks with recycle bins:
Washington State:
- 1st and Pike– downtown Seattle (“Heritage” Starbucks)
- University Village
- 65th & Phinney
- 15th Avenue Coffee and Tea (the “Inspired by Starbucks” mercantile non-branded store)
- Pier 55 – Seattle
- Bellevue Square
Baristas have written to me to tell about their stores recycle efforts, and so I’ve heard that these stores here have recycling in them also:
Missouri
- Brentwood & White Starbucks, Brentwood, MO
New Jersey
South Carolina
- 6 Windermere Blvd.,Charleston, South Carolina
As I hear about company-operated Starbucks stores with recycle bins included in them, I’d be glad to add them to this list. PLEASE email me if you know of a company-operated Starbucks with recycle bins. Use the “Contact” form associated with this website or email me at sbux206@starbucksmelody.com.
According to the Fiscal 2008 Annual Report, as of September 28, 2008, Starbucks operated 9,217 company operated stores. Think about how many paper cups could be saved if customers brought in their own tumbler:
If 100 people a day brought in their own personal tumbler, annually Starbucks would use about 921,700 fewer paper cups each year! That’s a lot of paper cups. That’s almost a million cups!
*****How many customers are using a personal cup at Starbucks?*****
When baristas ring a transaction as including a personal cup discount, that data gets collected and mined and used to supply information in the Annual Shared Planet report. There is no doubt, there is more personal cup usage than the appalling low number in the Shared Planet report due to forgotten cup discounts. When you bring in your own cup, Starbucks gives you ten-cents off your drink purchase.
When a cup discount is forgotten, I think the barista should re-ring the transaction to include the cup discount. It is the only way to make a difference and make your mark as a person using your own tumbler. Unfortunately, in my own experience, it is rare for a barista to re-ring the transaction. I cringe, but most commonly I see baristas reach into the tip jar and pull out a dime. And I’m left thinking, “it’s not about your dime. I didn’t mean to tip a dime less. I want to make a difference with Starbucks.” I’ve stopped arguing with baristas though. Most seem to think I actually want a dime, and I get some really odd looks if I say things like, “I’m trying to make a difference with Starbucks”. At a fundamental level though, I think most customers would say that making a difference to the planet is the reason why they use their own tumbler, and it’s not about the dime.
So this discussion begs the all important question, ‘what percentage of customers are using a personal cup?’. The answer is 1.3 percent. This is appallingly low. Less than 2 out of 100 customers walk in with a personal tumbler in their hands. Even more surprising, according to Starbucks, this number is a fairly constant and stable number over a pattern of several years.
This is shocking! Customers, please bring in your own cup!! If you want to claim environmental friendliness, then you’ll make it a habit to have a cup in your car, in backpack, in your briefcase, it needs to be part of your routine. What if Starbucks used a million fewer paper cups each year? How about five million? All I know is that with personal cup usage at an appalling low rate, there is huge room to save trees, landfills, and energy … All by YOU making a commitment not to use a paper cup.
Here is what Starbucks has to say about personal cup use (taken from their 2008 Shared Planet report):
“A lot of our customers are also working to reduce their own environmental impact even as we are. To help them help us, we offer a 10-cent discount in the U.S. and Canada to encourage customers to use their own reuable (sic) mugs for their beverages. Customers staying in a store can also request that their beverages be served in a ceramic mug.
Our U.S. and Canadian customers increased their use of reusable mugs to nearly 22 million times during fiscal 2008 – representing nearly one million pounds (454,000 kilograms) of paper saved. The percentage of total transactions where reusable mugs were used remained constant at 1.3 percent.
We think good habits should start with us. So we’ve challenged our U.S. partners (employees) to use only for-here cups for their own beverages – which would save more than 39 million cups per year. We’ve also asked them to encourage for-here customers to use ceramic cups and commuter mugs when they are taking their beverage to go.”
(Typo in original text).
Starbucks customers need to get into the habit of using their own tumbler. There are lots of good reasons to use your own cup. First off, you save ten-cents on your beverage. Secondly, it is less likely that someone will mistakenly grab the wrong drink. In addition, a customer’s drink will stay warmer longer in a stainless steel tumbler than a paper cup. And the beverage will taste better!
*****The current Starbucks paper cup*****
Many people ask the question, “Why isn’t the Starbucks paper cup easily recycled?” The answer is that the cup includes a very fine plastic lining inside of it which is what gives the cup its superb durability. The Starbucks paper cup was designed to hold very hot beverages and not burn the hands, and not deteriorate when full with very hot coffee.
The current Starbucks paper cup has an outer-shell which is composed of ten-percent post-consumer recycled material, and then an inner lining of low density polyethylene. The current cup does have impact by reducing virgin tree wood because of the recycled paper fiber in the cup, but it simply doesn’t function as the “green” cup that many consumers and Starbucks partners aspire to proudly show off in their hands.
The current paper cup IS fully recyclable in some cities, but the overwhelming majority of municipalities and jurisdictions will not recycle this current cup due to its polyethylene plastic lining.
*****The future of the Starbucks paper cup*****
The future of the Starbucks paper cup is the quest for an easily recyclable paper cup. I question whether Starbucks will ever find anything quite as durable as the current cup sans plastic lining. But that is the challenge.
In May 2009, Starbucks hosted a Cup Summit at their headquarters. Starbucks brought together thinkers, retailers, cup producers, and stakeholders all in one place to advance the goal of the fully recyclable cup. Of course in tandem with the goal of the fully recyclable paper cup, is the goal of increasing personal cup use and for-here ware use at Starbucks stores.
The time-frame announced by Starbucks for the recyclable cup is that Starbucks plans to develop and launch this cup by 2012, and that it will be in wide-spread use by 2015. Starbucks has stated that when the cup is first developed, it will be tested in key metropolitan markets first, and then its use expanded further to more locations. These goals can be found in the Shared Planet report and Starbucks blogs too.
When all is said and done, hand in hand with Starbucks goals, customers need to change their habits. Just as many customers now bring their own bags to the grocery store, it’s time to bring your own tumbler. I leave you with the Starbucks cup goals as stated in the 2008 Shared Planet report:
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it should be noted that, though not blue, 15th ave coffee and tea does have a bin marked for recycling, right next to the condiment bar. sorry i had not thought about that earlier when you were asking for locations that participated in some sort of a recycling program.
YOU are precisely the right person to preach consumer habits. I will occasionally talk about personal cups with customers, suggesting they get their latte “for here.” However, customers (more than a couple) have told me Starbucks is pushing the “Shared Planet discount” to save money so they’ll use less cups. Sometimes if the message comes from the company, customers don’t completely trust the intent. So, bravo! A consumer’s blog encouraging responsible consumer habits is where the change starts making a difference.
Scooter (a coworker) reminds me that when we were hired our training material told us to always ask customers if they wanted their beverage “for here” or “to go”.
The discount is apparently very inconsistently applied… even when I bring my own cup and they use it, I don’t think I’ve ever been given a discount, and certainly not rung up with one. As far as their unwillingness to re-ring orders, though, I understand that. A friendly barista told me once that it’s cause for scrutiny if they void too many orders.
The other big thing they could but don’t do is serve drinks in ceramic mugs when you order one “for here.” Every time I’ve ever asked for a drink that way in Starbucks, they’ve still given it to me in a paper cup. That’s a pet peeve of mine, because I consider paper a next-to-last resort for coffee. (Last resort would be styrofoam… that tastes worse than paper.) It just seems to taste better out of real ceramic mugs.
Great article with good information. I’m apparently one of the consistent 1.2 percent. And, as you suggested, I’ve got a stainless steel mug that does, indeed, keep the coffee hot longer. Interestingly, I think I’ve always gotten the discount. Maybe I just frequent Starbucks that are more aware of it. If I don’t happen to have my mug with me and I plan to sit for awhile I’ve had to ask if ceramic cups are available since the default seems to be the paper cups.
A know a couple people who were using their personal mugs at Starbucks and were told by baristas that using personal mugs didn’t help the environment because they were required to wash the mugs before filling them with coffee. So the question is which is worse, the use of paper cups or the increase in water usage?
Thanks for taking the time to write this, as it serves as a reminder that we can all do better with regards to recycling and reducing landfill waste. It’s pretty interesting how recycling varies as you move around to different areas. At my store in Cowlitz County, they will only accept cardboard for recycling. No plastic milk jugs, or cold cups or bottles….that’s crazy to me….
We definitely recycle in Canada. All our stores are equipped with recycling bins. The partners at my store are very good about getting their partner bevs in for here mugs and i have my own that i keep at the store.
We have a huge cafe and serve loads of drinks in ceramic mugs… now i just wish i didn’t have to re-order as much due to them being stolen…Thats another issue.
Also, i love serving Frappuccino’s in for here glasses they look awesome!
Our city has recently gone to wet and dry waste meaning we might have to separate all of the compostables but i’m not sure how thats going to work?
And like most stores we do grinds for your garden.
I have no doubt in my mind that it take more energy to recycle and MAKE something new out of a paper cup than to wash it. There is A LOT of water & energy involved in the transport, and conversion of one product to something new.
I know at times I see paper cups wasted in circumstances where it seems like it’s not necessary. It irks me that the Clover machines were not designed tall enough for most tall tumblers to sit underneath the brew device. In other words, most baristas will use a paper cup to brew into, and then transfer into your own tumbler, wasting a paper cup!
Here’s another fact that highlights the impact of paper cups: Starbucks Partners consume 77million partner beverages annually and if we could get our partners to use For Here ware on just the hot beverages, we would save 12,000 trees, enough energy to power 120 homes, enough water to fill 16 swimming pools, and the C02 equivalent of 288 cars!
Great article, passionate and informed. I’ve just opened a new store in the UK with a ban on partners drinking from paper cups, except when they are ending their shift. We are also in the process of organising a recycling trial which if (make that WHEN) it’s successful we will roll out to all stores where localfacilitues are available. Thanks again!
I have seen separate trash and recycle bins in the recently remodeled stores at Pier 55 and 7th & Pike in Seattle.
One major issue Starbucks faces when attemping to establish a companywide recycling program is that many communities it serves do not yet collect food contaminated products to recycle. And hard as it is to believe, some areas do not offer commercial recycling at all. Customers who call for recycle bins in their store should first check to see if the proper commercial collection service is provided in their community, and if not, lobby their local government to begin such a program.
And if a store does offer separate trash and recycle bins, use them!
Great article, Melody! Thanks for presenting the challenges of creating a recyclable cup, and how customers can also do their part by using a “for-here” cup or tumbler.
Starbucks did an audit of its environmental footprint a few years back and discovered that electricity purchased for stores was the biggest environmental offender. The CSR folks wanted to tackle the biggest offender first so began purchasing renewable energy and re-designing “green” stores. It would have been easier and gotten more PR bang if Starbucks worked on the cup first, but it’s important to change what is causing the largest footprint.
Starbucks could have also jumped on the bandwagon and used the PLA or “compostable” cup, but that is not a very good environmental solution either. It takes more energy to create that cup which uses genetically modified corn. Plus, many communities do not have the industrial composting facilities required to compost the cup. So it just sits in the landfill because it is not biodegradable.
But just because paper cups are a minimal part of Starbucks environmental footprint, doesn’t mean they should be ignored. The Cup Summit you mention was groundbreaking. I had the opportunity to attend, and it was amazing to see the representatives from all parts of the cup’s “life cycle”. The best environmental solution right now is a recyclable cup which can be used over and over again. Closed loop process.
I’ve just bought a fantastic recyclable cup from Australia called the KeepCup … it is everything and more that you have all been discussing. Check out http://www.keepcup.com.au. What a great move it would be for Starbucks to incorporate this into their stores.
I too cringe when I see a barista take a dime out of the tip jar. If I just put a dollar in there, I don’t want 10% back. That’s insulting to me and everyone else that has put money in there.
Ha, our store is too stingy on tips to give it out for the discount. Every dime counts!
The Starbucks in Los Angeles area don’t recycle…they have these GIANT plastic bags they toss in the dumpster. Perhaps this is because it is still cheaper to just throw away in LA, morethan Seattle since the landfills are still open a couple more years…while I believe Seattle when to the garbage trains some time ago (which raised dumpster fees.)
Also, almost all the recycling programs now run at a loss. They used to fill the empty shipping containers back to China (or wherever) up with scrap paper at our local recycling center…it isnt even re-used locally.
It’s interesting to read this since I’ve recently started *ACTUALLY* using the tumblers that I collect. WHAT? *USE* the tumblers? YES I told myself *smile* I have started buying coffee so frequently and started noticing all the “going green” and recycle signage in Starbucks (and other coffee shops) I started feeling foolish having the tumblers and not using them.
So I use them. So far I’m a starbucks tumbler only Lady as they have the best designs (or at least the best ones that I enjoy) and I look forward to collecting AND using more of the tumblers for my daily coffee 😀
Most of the Starbucks in Lexington, KY recycle. The store that I’ve recently moved to may be the only Starbucks in the city that doesn’t recycle. 🙁 However, my previous store recycled ALL their brewer AND espresso machine grounds. In addition, we had about ten or so bins out back. All of the boxes from our weekly orders and the milk jugs are being recycled.
The new Starbucks that just opened yesterday in Bellevue Square has a condiment cart with both trash and recycle drops. This store also has the most unique display of the Siren that must be seen to be believed!
Hi Rachel! I’m eager to get over to Bellevue & check out the new Starbucks there. I’m going to get there this weekend for sure some time. It sounds awesome. I appreciate the recycling info – I need to update this post. I have 3 stores to add to my list of recycling stores. I’m surprised that there is a recycle bin in Bellevue because I’ve heard (??) that although Seattle recycles the Starbucks paper cup, the east side does not. ?? Perhaps I heard wrong. Thank you for the update. 🙂
mel, you’re so right… i’ve been a regular (at least once, if not twice, per day), starbucks customer for a couple years now, and i just YESTERDAY bought a re-usable plastic tumbler…
imagine all of the other customers like me, who just never thought about it before…
btw, have you seen the new tumblers with the candy-cane straws? omgosh, so cute! :]
Melody, late comment… do you (or does anyone…) know of tumblers that fit Venti SBUX size drinks? I wouldn’t mind using one, but from what I can see from the MSI threads, most tumblers are Grande size. (Guess I could save a Venti cup and do some refilling testing… 🙂 )
I was never into the ‘bring my own’ because I thought the time taken to clean the tumbler would slow things down, and I have also seen them use a paper cup to measure/transfer to the tumbler, which, as has been said, does defeat the whole purpose and actually makes it worse. (They must think we want to use the tumbler solely for the insulation properties?)
Comment to my comment.. I looked at the online SBUX store, and all they have seems to be Grande size (16 oz.)… hm. I’m wondering if any Venti (20 oz.) tumbler would be too large to fit in the store hardware, and that’s what I’ve seen when they use a ‘paper’ cup to mix and then transfer to the ‘personal’ cup.
I’d hate to see Venti-buyers unable to use a personal cup because the hardware won’t fit it without wasting a paper cup in the process!
Well, whoops, just stumbled across an MSI thread that says stores will have a Venti travel mug for sale on 1/3/2010!
http://mystarbucksidea.force.com/ideaView?id=087500000005Cz4AAE
Hi Lee, well I had missed that thread too from MSI. That’s a great update for customers who are fans of the Venti size drink! Thank you.
well first off I try to use a grande Starbucks travel mug every day for my daily drink. I believe this is better than recycling because of all the transport etc required for cups.
a few notes:
the baristas don’t clean my cups, i do – but my office lacks a kitchen so if i want a second drink that day before i can go home and wash it i need a paper cup
I believe it’s a health code thing how much of a cup can be recycled? so Starbucks may not have any or little room left to add more recycled content to their cups
the discount is applied inconsistently, as everyone said i don’t want the money i want Starbucks to know i use my own cup
a few suggestions i will go post at msi if i haven’t already
-My company runs a program with reusable to go containers, if your part of the program you have a credit, when you get (use) a cup / container you lose a credit, when you bring a dirty one back you get back your credit. So what if there was a program, paid annually? where each store has X of the same tumbler – clean, and you get your drink in that and then bring back the dirty one to be washed and get back your point/credit. Yes stores would need to have a washing machine and the tumblers would have to be dishwasher safe, and at the end of the program you can renew or keep one? these should be available in all 3 sizes
-another thing, all Starbucks travel containers sold should include a scan-able 3-d bar code or normal bar code that includes the .10c! this way they don’t need to think just scan. it would also be great if it listed the ounces clearly somewhere so they don’t need to figure out if it’s a tall or grande or venti.
@AmazonV Good idea to automate it somehow… perhaps scanning the paper cups, so when they don’t, they are (re-)using ours, meaning we get a discount?
But since we can’t even consistently get other discounts or not get a receipt (or get asked if we want one or not), I dunno about that… 🙂
Getting these things consistently applied in thousands of stores is a major problem, as we all know.
Hate to say it, but I think those appallingly low numbers on the Shared Planet Report are pretty close to accurate.
I’ve been around as a partner for a long time now. Having worked at 3 different stores and having picked up shifts at numerous other stores I can tell you two things:
One – 99% of the personal cup carriers notice when you don’t give them the cup discount and will say something, which will prompt the partner on the register to add the discount.
Two – I can tell you, after having served at least several thousand customers, that there are very, very, very few customers that bring in their own cups. I realize this surely varies among different areas and regions, but on the whole my experience is that probably about 1-2% of our customers really are the only ones using personal cups.
Sad but true.
Regarding plastic cups, the other day I ordered a shaken iced tea lemonade. When I went back for a refill I asked if they could use the same cup. The barista said there was a new policy that required them to use a new cup for health purposes. I was very disappointed. I am not likely to buy refills anymore knowing that another plastic cup will be used.
@C8H10N4O2 – We just need to work on customer awareness. When one person throws a cup in the trash they don’t think of it as one of 2 BILLION cups, but someone needs to educate them on the scale of cups that Starbucks uses annually.
@Melanie – That new policy is such a puzzle! At first I thought it was something required by local ordinance, but I keep hearing about on other blogs too, and so it seems to be wide-spread. I need to do some research to try and figure out if it is really local ordinance or a nation-wide Starbucks policy. It’s so wasteful!
@Melody I’m wondering how much of the policy is to ensure that the SBUX apparatus doesn’t come into contact with the used cup? If you take a used cup, and use it to make a new drink, what is being ‘touched’ by hardware that is reused?
Complicated… and this ties into using customers’ cups, also.
Sigh… being green and sanitary is always a battle.
Melody, I’ve heard baristas in my area telling customers that the new refill policy is in place for sanitary purposes.
Melody, I admire your leadership on the reuse/recycling front. I should carry my own tumbler more often, but it’s harder in the winter because my hands get cold. (And then there are times I stop by Starbucks on a whim, without planning for it.) Time to invest in a good pair of fingerless gloves! No more excuses from me. Enjoy the week off from blogging! Happy Thanksgiving!
This is an informative and inspiring article, and the comments are really helpful as well!
As a small contribution, I’ll note that any Venti-size coffee drinkers who don’t want to wait until January can get 20 ounce tumblers from Peet’s.
Starbucks owes much of it’s success to it’s image and popular perception. Granted, they make a better than average beverage, but the biggest draw is not so much what is IN the cup as is the CUP itself.
Using a personal cup is certainly a noble cause, but it pales in comparison to the subconscious and narcissistic need of people to be perceived as part of the wealthy, hip, trendy, sophisticated, I’m important, and when I’m done with this beverage I’m just going to throw it away, crowd. When you are seen holding a white Starbucks cup with a sleeve you hold it a little closer to your face; you want to be associated with this popular perception… if you don’t believe me, just watch people and how they carry a Starbucks beverage in a to-go cup versus some other drink.
You can all point out how shallow and silly that is, but that is the world we live in. The world where 98.7% of the Starbucks clientele who can’t have their subconscious personal image tainted or personal freedoms inhibited by having to be responsible for remembering their personal cup each day.
The movement to have personal cups that look like the real paper cups is a good attempt but then you run the risk of being perceived as bringing coffee from home (“gasp”). If you aren’t busy enough to need to get your coffee from Starbucks then you will not be perceived as someone who is “important” enough.
Keep fighting the good fight.
If only S-Bux had Corn Mugs! 😉
@Kelly-Hey what do you mean by corn mugs? Do you have an example in mind?
And @GhostOfEdward – When I see a paper cup in a person’s hand, I never think of that person as “busy”. Sometimes I confess I wonder if they understand how many cups north Americans use, or if they’re just too lazy to carry a tumbler!
🙂 Corn Mugs are reusable travel mugs made from a renewable corn starch based plastic (pla plastic) rather than a petroleum based plastic.
Pics on website: http://www.cornmug.com
I bring mine in for drinks, but I wish it had a Sbux logo on it! 🙂
Ah… I wish the S*Bux here used ceramic cups… When you’re in the mood to just kinda hang out and relax, to go cups just don’t do it. 🙁
Didn’t know they’d let you use your own. I need to go buy one.
the thing is you don’t even need to go and buy a reusable cup. After reading the book, No Impact man I adopted his habit of using a mason jar, I actually use an old glass peanut butter jar. It is the greatest cup as everyone loves it, I get huge discounts everywhere I go and it starts conversations about why I don’t use a paper cups.
And the other thing to note is that we can not rely on “recycling” as a means to fix our problems. We have to suck it up and do what is right. Yes my coffee gets a little colder quicker than some double lined mug but that is life. We can no longer hold our creature comforts above the health of our planet. It’s just plain lazy and selfish.
Hi Chuck! I commend you for being so proactive in reducing consumption. I don’t know if I am quite ready to give up my tumbler. I am amazed at how little most people understand about this topic though: On mystarbucksidea.com it is not that uncommon for people to come on to the site and start asking for Starbucks to recycle the green splash sticks which are used with the paper cups, to prevent spills. How short-sighted! It would be better not to use a splashstick in the first place, which of course, cycles back to the customer bringing in his or her tumbler, mug, or container.
Welcome to my blog! Thanks for the thoughtful comment.
I used to bring in my own cup and will return to doing that. Buying a cup of your own is great and I hope everyone does that but I want to remind everyone that it would be even better if you can get one that is made as close as possible to where you live. I see that Starbucks is starting to sell cups made in other places than China which is great but I would like to see them buy the reusable cups for stores in the US made in the US. Cups made from alternative products like corn are great, too and should be the alternative to reusable cups instead of the alternative to plastic. Measuring and monitoring initiatives like this is important but I believe that if Starbucks is committed to this vision the power of example by the barristas will be much more powerful than the 10c return every time I buy another drink. I have found that the relationship I have with the customer is something that goes along with the price of the product I am selling. As a company I see Starbucks participate in many ‘local’ and national initiatives so I don’t see why ‘local’ environmental groups could not enlist their local Starbucks store in a Use Reusable campaign for everything from grocery bags to coffee cups. It really is all about a person’s perspective.
Great entry good collection of resources. Many ppl don’t seem to realize environmental sustainability is a partnership between producers and consumers. Buy a mug, use it. Drink your coffee in a “for here” mug.
I’m glad you picked this one to comment on. I wish I had written that. I realize that Starbucks has a long ways to go still when it comes to green practices surrounding trash/recycling, but the partnership aspect is so important! It irks me that people want to scream and point fingers at Starbucks and yet refuse to be responsible enough to use their own personal tumbler, like as if the corporation is the only party who has to take affirmative steps to be earth-friendly
As a quick update @Kelly – i have a starbucks logo on my cup, it’s white and looks just like a regular starbucks cup except it’s ceramic, i even marker my order on the side. they can be found!
As a former Starbucks store manager, and current regular customer, I have a lot to say about recycling. To me, the worst thing the company ever did was to introduce sleeves. I worked before they existed, and with the exception of drip coffee, only about 5% of customers asked for a double cup. Once sleeves were introduced, at least 90% of customers ask for sleeves, and even 5-10% of cold cup customers ask for the same thing. Yes, each sleeve uses less paper than a cup, but the overall amount of paper used is much greater.
As a current customer, I either bring in my own tumbler, or get my coffee in a ‘For Here’ mug. At least 20% of the time the barista isn’t paying attention, and still pours it into a paper cup, that is immediately thrown away. So I think it’s both an institutional issue, as well as a customer service one as well.
Being an old man from a different era, I have seen for the last 40 years that people have been concerned about the human carbon footprint(although this term is fairly new) starting in the early 70’s with the famous Indian(who was really Italian) canoeing down the polluted river filled with garbage. It seems that when we dropped the bomb in WWII that we made the whole world disposable, the problem is the way that people view the world as an unending supply of resources that will never run dry. Tisk, tisk on that assumption. In the late seventies soda’s were the beginning of a much bigger issue when they changed from actual glass bottles to plastic, which paved the way for the now HUGE problem with bottled water. I know it seems I got off track but it all relates to the habits of a nation. If I can throw it away then I don’t have to deal with it anymore someone else does, not my problem, but it is all of our’s problem. Did U know that a city in Australia was the first last month to outlaw bottled water being sold in the city limits? Will it come down to more laws to get this to change? With the MILLIONS of Sbux tumblers being sold each year, where the hell are all of them? They are in the cupboard of most homes because it’s just easier on the consumer to use and throw away a cup rather than having to wash and reuse it, basically humans are lazy and getting worse. I am happy that about 30 daily use a personal cup for which I gladly ring in the discount to do our little part to try and help with the whole big mess. The company really should have looked into a better designed cup before they opened say store 1000. A friend works in a coffee shop in Taos, NM that uses 100% biodegradable cups from a company in CO. It’s hard to go back and change the mistakes but a forward future can be executed if the intent is there. Sad that we destroy our own future with the bad habits of today. Sorry so long but U did get me started.LOL
Scooter, you’re not an old man!
And I can say that you are what you preach bc you bring in your reusable water bottle everyday.
I don’t usually do this, but I found another person’s blog (this was a random google find) on the importance of using your own cup, and I love their discussion!
http://www.wellnessfromwithinblog.com/2009/08/drink-responsibly-brink-coffee-cup.html
One of the things I know helps with reusable cup adoption is the availability of a wash station. One of my past consulting clients went green by eliminating the Styrofoam cups in their break-room. Where they really shone is that they refused to replace them with paper: instead, they went out and bought a complete set of custom-printed company travel mugs for guests who forgot to bring one.
They paid their cleaning staff to run the kitchen dishwasher nightly to clean the ‘guest’ set.
When I worked there I would typically bring a travel mug with me, and would wash it out in the sink before using it. One of the reasons I might not take it into a coffee shop is that I know it still has to be washed. This isn’t something I’m going to ask a barrista to help me with, since I know it’s not their job. Also, bathroom is a possibility, but I really don’t even feel safe washing my hands in most of the ones I find, let alone a cup I drink out of. (Sad but true.)
But, if Starbucks were to install a quick wash station somewhere, I think it would really promote people bringing and using their own cups and travel mugs. I doubt it’d take much engineering. Something with the footprint of a water fountain, you hold the cup upside down over it and it squirts one blast of hot soapy water, then one of clean water to rinse it. It can be something you do while waiting in line.