Starbucks defeats the intention of my reusable cup
Yesterday afternoon, I decided to treat myself to a fancy Starbucks beverage. I had a long afternoon of work ahead of me and needed a little something extra to motivate myself to get through to the end of the workday. I grabbed a reusable coffee cup (back in February, I made a commitment to myself to only buy coffee if I had a reusable mug) and headed over to the closest Starbucks. Normally when I get coffee, I'm doing just that, only getting coffee. The exchange requires that I pass over my mug, watch as they fill it will coffee and then hand it back to me in trade for $1.66. However, the fancy coffee drinks have more steps and more instructions and the practice at Starbucks is that they write your order on your cup. Yesterday I placed my order and watched in horror as they took my mug and plopped it into a disposable cup, so that they could write down order (2% latte with an extra shot). When they were done making my drink, they pulled the disposable cup off my mug, tossed it into the trash.
I had the guts to tell them that by using the disposable cup they had defeated the intention of my reusable mug and asked that they try to find the stickers that I've seen in other stores that allow them to write the order down without creating so much waste.
I was really frustrated by the experience, especially since Starbucks touts their environmentally friendly practices. However, this experience right on the heels of Kelly's white pastry box encounter makes me think that Starbucks is, indeed, going backwards.
I was really frustrated by the experience, especially since Starbucks touts their environmentally friendly practices. However, this experience right on the heels of Kelly's white pastry box encounter makes me think that Starbucks is, indeed, going backwards.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
4-30-2008 @ 2:57PM
Patricia said...
Something like this happened to me recently.
I said, "No bag please," because it was just one item that I could carry, but the cashier had already taken the bag off the metal rack. Instead of just laying it down to be used by someone else, he then threw it in the trash instead.
Even though there was nothing wrong with it. Sigh.
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4-30-2008 @ 9:11PM
shelsy said...
If you're planning on drinking your coffee right there in the store, just ask for your coffee "for here" and they'll give you your drink in one of their glass mugs--I do it all the time. I guess there's still a chance that if they're really busy they'll write your order down on a disposable cup anyway, but at least if you forget your mug at home you can still get your drink without feeling guilty!
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5-01-2008 @ 12:01PM
kelly.leahy said...
When I worked at Starbucks, we had specially printed post-its to put on reusable mugs. We never used them though, we just remembered the drink. Sounds like you got a bum barista!
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5-01-2008 @ 12:36PM
JSDavis said...
i think it'd be cool if they wrote your order on your reusable mug with dry erase markers. That way no disposable cups or post its get thrown away in the process.
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5-01-2008 @ 1:05PM
bobg said...
I had a similar experience yesterday at Wal-Mart. I had forgotten my shopping bags so I picked up three at Wal-Mart, intending to give them to my daughter after I had used them. I was talking to the person behind me and I wasn't watching what the clerk was doing. When I went to pay the bill I found that the clerk had folded the reusable bags and stuffed them in the plastic bags thereby nullifying my attempt to be green. Hey Wal-Mart maybe a little education would help. This is not such a huge deal as I am very religious about recycling.
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