And a picture of the offending rest stop to boot! Awesome!

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Not refused, but I did have Coffee Bean make my drink in a paper cup and then pour it into my reusable mug. Pure brilliance. I would write a letter to Starbucks if I were you...

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I've never been refused the option to use my own mug. The local coffee shop I frequent even washes it for me!

But another little coffee shop always charges for a "large" then deducts a token amount for not using the paper cup. It would cost less to order a medium, pour it from the paper cup into my travel mug and dispose of the paper cup. But that's just too wasteful even for me! : )

But on a bigger scale, I've become uncomfortable with seeing the waste of retail coffee drink chains like Starbucks and Peets.

These are hugely profitable companies (just look at their stock price performance even after recent weakness) with stores and employees by the bushel. All that waste just so I can order an extra-hot cappuccino only to get a cup of tepid milk with a dash of stale espresso dissolving the wax from the inside of a paper cup and conveying it to be permanently solidified in my intestines ... : )

I've taken to brewing my own coffee in an Aerobie Coffee Press -- just Google for AeroPress -- it takes less time than diverting my itinerary to a local coffee shop and waiting in line, plus I get my bean of choice and an espresso quality cup-a-joe without the all around waste of Starbucks etc. I carry the AeroPress with me "pre-loaded" so all I need is a cup of boiling water, then I "press" out the coffee and drop the AeroPress back in a zip-loc bag (it's basically dry once it's pressed out the coffee, but the plastic bag last indefinitely (at least several months since I started this habit last winter) and keeps any drips from escaping. Worth considering. It certainly makes for better coffee, but I can't say all the plastic in the AeroPress is environmentally friendly (though I believe it can eventually be recycled) and I question the health risks of any clear hard plastic for food applications because of the problems connected to Bisphenol A (BPA.)

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That's interesting considering that Starbucks is planning to start using ceramic mugs themselves for sit-down purchases.
Or maybe the girl was just wrong....according to the Starbucks website: "Starbucks encourages customers to participate in environmental initiatives through popular in-store programs like the reusable mug $0.10 discount" (http://www.starbucks.com/aboutus/pressdesc.asp?id=763)

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Starbucks started refusing my mug recently. They used to refill it, though it was more expensive than Alpine Bagel and 711.. they charged me $1.87 whereas Alpine Bagel and 711 charged $1.10.. Starbucks coffee isn't even very good.... ANWAYS.. so I handed them the mug and they said "we don't refill those. You need to buy a Starbucks mug if you want to get the refill price." Needless to say I am now boycotting those fascists and will never buy their crappy coffee again. It's overpriced, not any good, not fair-trade, and not to mention, they are direct supporters of the apartheid state of Israel. That alone is enough reason to boycott.

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My understanding was that they give a discount on the price of your coffee when you bring a reusable mug. I've been to a few in both the US and Canada and haven't had my non-Starbucks travel mug refused.

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Is it actually possible that there's a local health code that prohibits making a drink directly in a cup that the employee cannot verify having gone through proper dishwashing procedures? I've worked in restaurants where, on strict interpretation of the local health code, we could not refill a customer's fountain drink in the same glass (because the glass would be touching the equipment--we could still refill tea and water from pitchers at the tables). Or possibly the manager or trainer has spent a lot of time in restaurants and had that drilled into their heads.

That said, especially since there is a company policy in place, the least this Starbucks could do is have a small supply of sized ceramic mugs so they can make the drink in those and pour it into a customer's own cup.

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