Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson was surprised by a giant cup monster named Grounds while he was kicking off the 2017 GeekWire Summit in Seattle last Oct. 9.
Grounds was made by an environmental group called Stand.earth, who has been “putting pressure on the company to use 100 percent recycled or tree-free cups.” The effort was for the group’s Better Cup campaign. According to Stand.earth representative Ross Hammond, Starbucks must first solve its biggest environmental liability—the 8,000+ cups that go into landfills every minute—before they can proceed to become a tech leader.
Starbucks cups are lined with a plastic coating inside which allows them to hold up under the heat of the coffee, but some areas are unable to recycle them. Starbucks vice president of communications Linda Mills said that they are pushing their efforts in producing recyclable cups by doubling the amount of post fiber material in them from 10 percent to 20 percent.
Personally, I still see a lot of discarded Starbucks (among other coffee brands) cups in random areas around the city. And don’t even get me started with those who just carelessly throw their unfinished frappuccino outside the car window. If I had all the time in the world, I would’ve made two cup monsters with all that waste.
Recyclable cups are fine, but if you really want to get rid of them, we suggest to BYOM (bring your own mug).
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Would you move to an island made of plastic?