Starting this week, Starbucks is offering its North American customers a $1 reusable plastic cup in an effort to reduce the number of discarded paper cups and plastic lids. All company-owned stores and some licensed stores in the U.S. and Canada will offer the cups, which resemble the white paper cups normally used.
The cups are marked to help employees fill the three serving sizes. Customers who use the cup or any other reusable container get a 10-cent discount for each refill as well as a boiling water cleanse for the cup.
Starbucks tested the cup in 600 Pacific Northwest stores starting in October and found a 26% boost in reusable cup usage compared to the same month in 2011 November. The trend enjoyed a 55% increase over the last three years at Starbucks, according to the company. Reusable cups were used more than 34 million times in 2011.
But that makes up just 2% of Starbucks’ worldwide beverage sales. The company aims to raise that figure to 5% by 2015 – down from its original goal of 25%.
The $1 cup price and 10¢ discount are good incentives, but will people swap connivence for environmental action? Also, will the time it takes to wash out your cup slow the production line baristas? If anyone has the ability to change our coffee culture behavior it's Starbucks.
JM with tip from BL
