Starbucks' Cheap ReUsable Cups

Today I found out that this exists:

It's a reusable cup that only costs a buck!

I've always thought that it would be neat if cafes would charge the standard 2 dollars for people that had re-usable cups and an extra dollar for paper cup customers.  This would be sort of a penalty tax for not bringing a reusable cup in.  Starbucks is taking this in a different direction however.  For 1 dollar, you can hang on to this cup, wash it, and re-use it again.  When you bring it in for a refill, you'll receive a 10 cent discount.  The cup pays for itself after 10 visits!  I'm not sure how long these cups last before they break down, but they look and feel tough.   I may have to buy a cup tomorrow and test it's durability!

Starbucks aims to convert 5% of their paper cup users over to plastic reusable or travel mug customers by 2015.    It's great to see that a huge coffee corporation keeping stats on it's impact on garbage and energy consumption.  Starbucks reports that they've seen a 55 percent increase in travel mug use over the past three years.  The coffee giant is an environmentally conscious company and actively engages with this customers via social media.

I really hope that more consumers helps Starbucks meets their environmental goals over the next few years.  For more information on Starbucks' commitment to sustainability and it's impact to the environment please head to www.starbucks.com/responsibility/environment for more info.