From Green Right Now Reports
It’s official: Running around with that Starbucks paper cup is no longer cool.
The Seattle-based coffee chain today announced that it would reward customers who use their own mug or tumbler with a complimentary cup of joe on April 15.
The promotion is to show that BYOC (Bring Your Own Cup) is really better.
“While our cup has become an integral part of the coffeehouse experience over the years, it has also become an environmental concern,” said Ben Packard, Starbucks vice president of Global Responsibility.
The company has “set aggressive goals to minimize cup waste” by developing cups that are recyclable, and aims to have 100 percent of its coffee cups either reusable or recyclable by 2015.
Progress is being made. In 2009, Starbucks served 26 million beverages in reusable cups in the U.S., Canada and the United Kingdom (a 4.4 million cup increase over 2008), keeping an estimated 1.2 million pounds of paper from landfills, the company reported.
Spurning disposable cups can also save forests. Starbucks encourages the curious to visit its Impact Calculator, powered by the Environmental Defense Fund, to see how many trees can be saved by using reusable cups. (Guess: A lot.)
“In addition to working with cup manufacturers, municipalities and recyclers to make our cups more broadly recyclable, we’re encouraging customers to think about reusable cups the way they think about reusable grocery bags,” Packard said.
Another way to help ensure that you and Starbucks on collaborating on a more eco-path: Ask for Fair Trade coffee, which is grown sustainably in conditions favorable for workers and the environment. Here are Starbucks notes on its Fair Trade coffee.