Starbucks To Test ‘Greener Cups’

I never see them picking up trash (but they might) no promotions such as trash for a cup of coffee, no signage requesting to recycle… it is very disappointing for a company that started a coffee trend.

One of the companies that I least admire is Starbucks. For years they have been asked to come up with sustainable and recyclable alternatives to their heavy littered coffee cups, lids and stirrers. In fact, I was horrified when they took over a Jack in The Box in my hood, about 100 steps to the beach and or 50 steps to the bay.

It is said that Starbucks sells 4 billion to-go cups annually and yet most of them end up in the landfill, because they are mostly made of paper and lined with plastic.

Their coffee cups, lids, green stirrers and straws are littered all over the beach.

They first made an announcement last year about their straws and now it appears they are going to test market ‘Greener Cups’, which should be interesting.

Company will trial new greener cups in several markets worldwide in the coming year, roll out new strawless lids in the U.S. and Canada, and provide customers an opportunity to digitally trace their coffee’s journey from seed to cup.

One could say, that Starbucks doesn’t litter, people do. While agreeing with that, it is really hard for me personally to not see Starbucks take more of a leadership role. Other coffee companies have.

SEATTLE – Sipping your hot coffee from a paper cup that you can recycle or compost in your community. Enjoying a cold coffee beverage with a recyclable, strawless lid instead of a conventional plastic straw. And checking the Starbucks mobile app to see the journey of your packaged coffee beans as they were grown, processed, traded and roasted.    

Starbucks leadership will unveil progress and plans on all these fronts at the company’s annual meeting of shareholders, noting that sustainable coffee, served sustainably is an area of particular passion for Starbucks and its more than 380,000 partners (employees) around the world.

“It was at our shareholders meeting one year ago that we launched multi-year initiatives around greener cups and digitally traceable coffee,” said Kevin Johnson, president and ceo of Starbucks. “Today thanks to many valuable collaborations, we’re seeing significant, tangible progress toward a greener future.”