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Starbucks' new $1 reusable coffee cup
The new cup will look like a regular Starbucks coffee cup, but will the inexpensive price tag make these cups too easy to forget about?
Thu, Jan 03 2013 at 10:45 AM
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Photo: Alfonso Surroca/Flickr
The first thing that came to my mind when I read about Starbucks' new $1 reusable cup was this quote by Thomas Paine: "What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly."
Of course, in "The Crisis No. 1," Paine was talking about freedom, but the sentiment in that simple, eloquent sentence applies to so many things in life — perhaps even $1 reusable cups.
According to Eatocracy, Starbucks will begin selling the inexpensive plastic coffee cups today at most stores in the U.S. and Canada. (No news yet about whether they'll be available at the first Starbucks in Vietnam that opens next month.) The cups will look like a paper Starbucks cup, complete with the Starbucks logo. Baristas are instructed to wash out the cup with hot boiling water before each use.
When the cups are reused, customers will get 10 cents off of their beverage. Starbucks hopes that the low price of the reusable cup will encourage more people to forgo disposable paper cups. That's admirable, but I wonder if something that has been bought so inexpensively will end up left behind by consumers who don't think it's worth the time or effort to retrace their steps for a $1 coffee cup.
In fact, Eatocracy has a poll at the bottom of the story about the use of the reusable cups, and the majority of the people responding — about 30 percent of them — say, "I'd probably forget and would end up buying at least a few." The second most popular answer is "I'd bring it once or twice and forget."
I question whether so many of these $1 cups will end up in the trash or forgotten in the back of a cupboard that it will negate the good they could do. I know that if I realized I had left something that only cost me $1 somewhere, I might think twice about going back to get it if it was so easily and inexpensively replaceable. Something that cost me $10 or $15, however, I'd probably retrace my steps for.
What do you think? Are these $1 reusable Starbucks cups, that were obtained cheaply, what consumers need to start being more environmentally friendly or will they be esteemed too lightly?
Related post on MNN: Starbucks fights the fiscal cliff with handwritten messages
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Does anyone know how many times you'd have to use this cup to even out the extra energy and resources that were used to produce this more durable reusable cup compared to the regular ones?
So, basically this article is telling me to complain so that they'll jack up the price.
Re-using your coffee cup is a great first step, but what about re-using your water bottle to avoid clogging landfills with BPA? You can get a sleek water bottle customized with your own photos, text and charity you love at aquavation.org...the price is right, and the charity you choose gets 20% of proceeds!
It is really cheap. But washing and reusing paper cups are not that much clean like disposable paper cups. How many times or how long can we reuse it?
www.ecofriendlypackaging.com/papercup.html
I bought one of these cups two days ago and I don't think I'll have a problem using it every day. It is BPA free says on the bottom of the cup and top-rack dishwasher safe so I would assume its fairly durable plastic.
Thanks for the BPA info. Good to know.
My barista said about 35 uses before they start to disintegrate.
Starbucks is instructing consumers to only use the cup for 30 days, which makes it seem like the plastic in the cup will start to deteriorate - not healthy for consumers. I would rather dispose of a biodegradable paper cup than a cheap plastic cup once a month that is probably leeching chemicals into my body.
I think the comment above about the 35 uses was in reference to a question above, asking how many times a PAPER cup can be reused. Meaning, their barista told them a PAPER cup can be used 30-35 times before it falls apart.
I have the plastic Starbucks cups, and they have lasted for many more than 35 uses already.
Really? Only 30 days? I'm going to have to check this out.
I think a lot of them will end up in the garbage...I also wonder how durable the cups are. If they're like the cheap, ubiquitous $1 reusable shopping bags everyone has, they'll likely be good to use a few times then start degrading. People will just buy more because, hey, they're just a dollar.
It is commendable that Starbucks is putting in an effort and offering a less expensive cup; however, your statement that Dunkin' Donuts and others are not doing similar would be incorrect. There are Dunkin' Donuts locations that offer a refillable mug--that's made in America and is insulated, which means no extra sleeve needed as with the Starbucks version.
I would support hemp cups but I see the $1 plastic cups making things worse instead of better. The avg. person will probably use the cheap plastic cup 5 times at best. I'd rather see paper in the land fills than plastic.
Don't be lazy! Starbucks is putting forth their effort for a good cause and you should to. Do your part.
More plastic waste! Bring a cup from home.
What's in the plastic - chemicals or is it aok? More information needed.
What size? I almost always buy venti...
One of the sources I read mentioned that the inside of the cup has lines on it for the various sizes of coffee. So I would guess it's the largest size, but you can order any size in it.
Why should we expect people who spend $5 on a cup of coffee to care about 10 cents?
I think it's silly. There's no real incentive for people to pay anything for the paper cup. $.10 off their refills? I think customers should expect a much higher discount off their refills if they're going to pay for a reusable cup. Ten cents is insulting to the loyal customer of a coffee chain that serves disgusting coffee and espresso to begin with.
The cups look like paper cups, but they're actually made of plastic. I, too, think that ten cents isn't that much of an incentive. For someone who isn't concerned about the environmental impact of disposable cups, I'm not sure ten cents will be enough to make them remember to grab their reusable cup before they leave the house.
I wouldn't go so far as to call it an insult, though, just not a huge incentive.
They should just charge customers 50 cents for every paper cup. Then people will be more motivated.
I like that idea, but it might drive away customers. Something like that would probably work well if all coffee places did it - and that would take legislation.
There's no easy answer, is there?
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