[Editor's note: This is part of a month-long series on food sustainability by Marc Gunther. Coffee's been one of the recurring themes of the series. Marc also wrote about fair-trade coffee, as well as the steps Starbucks and Thanksgiving Coffee are taking to ensure ethical sourcing, last week.]
Starbucks generates 4 billion paper cups a year. Yikes! That’s about 12 cups for every man, woman and child in America. The company has been working hard with an array of partners to build a system that would enable these cups to be recycled.
There is a way to reduce some of that waste: Charge customers 10 cents for every paper cup they use. As it happens, the company already does just that. It just doesn’t do it in an effective way. The result is Starbucks is missing a big opportunity to have a lighter environmental footprint.
Let me explain. Starbucks now offers its customers 10 cents off the price of any beverage if they bring their own mug. It doesn’t make a big deal out of this. But according to information on its website, on a page headlined “Make A Difference,” the company says:
“Join the movement. Bring a reusable travel mug and get a 10 cent discount on any Starbucks beverage, anytime. One person can save trees, together we can save forests.”
And that sounds great – except that, if Starbucks really wanted to save trees, it wouldn’t offer discounts to people who bring mugs. It would charge a dime to everyone who does not.
Notice I’m not suggesting Starbucks change its prices; I’m only recommending that the company change the way it talks about its prices.
Right now, if a tall coffee has a list price of $1.60, the company will sell it to me for $1.50 if I bring my mug. Instead, it should set the price at $1.50 and charge 10 cents extra for the paper cup.
Next page: Same prices, big difference
that washing dishes. its not
that washing dishes. its not that hard... wink wink !
kindlefirecolor
The problem with the bag tax
The problem with the bag tax example is summed up by the final sentence of the article linked, "And the results are clear: a sharp drop in plastic bags entangled in trees, floating in rivers and blowing down the streets like tumbleweed." If that was the overall aim of the tax, of course. What about those reports of increased sales in trash bags as they become a more economically viable solution for carrying groceries home than the carrier bags and to an even greater extent, the increase in shopping carts which vanish from parking lots seen in some parts of the world?
As for this article - while I'm sure it is an issue for Starbucks to see their product in overflowing trash cans, those concerns aren't as worrying when compared to the benefits they realize as a company from having 4 billion advertisements carried around by willing customers.
In a world where you can't go more than a few blocks without passing a Starbucks, why don't they develop a standardized recycling scheme, complete with educational outreach through in store policies and employee awareness - but extend it to outside of the store too? Why not have recycling bins outside each Starbucks, fully branded if need be (the logo is largely green, after all) and take the message to the streets that way?
its much simpler than that,
its much simpler than that, and its already in place. like your idea, all Starbucks has to do is change the wording of their employees' script. Starbucks has ALWAYS had a "for here cup" which is a ceramic mug they serve their coffees in and just wash themselves onsite. Whenever I am in a Starbucks, I am usually there to hang, not dash out the door, so I ALWAYS ask for a "for here cup", there is no extra charge, and no paper being discarded. If Starbucks just made that option more obvious like "paper or plastic or bring your own bag" at the grocery store, LOTS more people would choose the mug. I think most of their customers are simply unaware this is even an option, as evidenced by the fact that you never mentioned it in your article. Now ya know! :)
Much agreed, and thanks for
Much agreed, and thanks for that comment! Look into a Starbucks (or Peets, for that matter) and the vast majority of folks enjoying their beverage on site instead of taking it to go drink out of - paper cups!! The automatic default the barista reaches for is a paper cup. They don't ask, for example, "Is it for here or to go?" and give a ceramic mug for the drinks consumed on site. A customer has to explicitly (and assertively) request a reusable mug, although they're set up for them, washing machine and all. Starbucks could easily change the behavioral norm at their cafes in this fashion without inconveniencing anybody. No trust violated either, in fact, I'd speculate that they'd earn kudos for it. And it would pave the way for charging for paper cups as the author suggests - if they are truly serious about reducing their footprint.
It's 2012 and SBX still has
It's 2012 and SBX still has no front-of-store recycling. Is that a "trust" issue too?
How about just selling coffee
How about just selling coffee IN mugs and not charging anything more.
That's how coffee was sold in the not so distant past.
Getting people to travel around with shopping bags, coffee mugs and whatever the latest trend is, is not always so smart.