Cool kids. is the 1 dollar reusable Starbucks cup worth it?

[Baitball Blogger]

Starbucks sells $1 reusable cup, Square mobile card readers

Starting Thursday, Starbucks addicts can get their grande lattes in a $1 reusable plastic cup, sold by the chain across North America in an effort to get customers to cut back on waste.

All company-owned stores and some licensed stores in the U.S. and Canada will offer the cups, which bear the Seattle coffee giant’s logo and resemble the white paper cups normally used by the cafes.

The recyclable cups are marked to measure grande or tall servings – Starbucks lingo for 16-ounce and 12-ounce sizes, respectively. Customers who use the cup or any other reusable container get a 10-cent discount for each refill as well as a boiling water cleanse for the receptacle.

Starbucks tested its eco-friendly effort in 600 Pacific Northwest stores starting in October. In November, the region saw a 26% boost in reusable cup usage compared to the same month in 2011.


http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/nationworld/la-fi-mo-starbucks-square-reusable-vietnam-20130103,0,427386.story

[Incitatus]

1. 10 cents?

I guess if you go there often enough and care about limiting waste, it's not bad. I don't see many Starbucks regulars caring about saving 10 cents per cup.

A consumer just having the cup may increase the times they go to Starbucks, so it works out very well for them.

[Major Nikon]

2. In my experience, Starbucks will happily use whatever cup you give them

It doesn't have to be one of theirs.

I will probably cover this at some point in my coffee series, but here is my recommendation for a travel cup. I have bought dozens of travel cups over the years and all of them save one have been donated to Goodwill. This particular one is hands down better than any I have ever used. I have two of them and the first one I bought has been in use for about 6-7 years and still works like new. Once my wife started using it I quickly found out I needed another. It will keep coffee hot longer than any other I've tried, and when closed won't leak even if you turn it upside down and shake it. The only down side I've found to it is if you tighten the lid too tightly, you'll have to get a pair of pliers to get it off so you learn not to tighten it down too much. If I preheat it with hot water and leave it closed it will easily keep coffee quite hot for at least 2 hours. Cleaning it is very straightforward, although to thoroughly clean it you need to take the lid apart. It's not a big deal.

http://www.amazon.com/Nissan-14-Ounce-Leak-Proof-Insulated-Stainless/dp/B00004WHWV/

[intaglio]

3. I heard a comedian observe

All cups are refillable - if they're not they're called tubes

[TreasonousBastard]

4. Big deal-- I can go back to 7-11 with my old paper 24oz cup and...

get a refill for a buck. My 20oz thermal mugs are a buck, too. What I usually do, though, is go there with my quart thermos and fill it for a buck. I have two, and one plugs into the cigarette lighter.

I am mildly paranoid about hot liquids in plastic containers, so all my travel mugs are stainless steel inside. Several of them I bought at 7-11. One of them plugs into the cigarette lighter, too.