Starbucks' Response

Surprise, surprise! I got a response from Julie S at Starbucks Coffee Company about my posting with respect to their "double-cupping" policies. Seems as though they are doing what they can about the environment ... please read on.

Am I satisfied with the response? Guess so ...


Thank you for contacting Starbucks Coffee Company.

Starbucks white paper cups, used for hot beverages, are made of paper fiber and the industry standard liner (low-density polyethylene plastic). The paper provides the rigidity for the cup, while the plastic layer keeps the paper layer intact by protecting it from the hot beverage. This plastic layer also makes the hot beverage cups unrecyclable in most paper recycling systems. We are continually evaluating alternatives to the current plastic coating, and are currently conducting life cycle assessments for bio-based plastics.

We have spent more than ten years looking for opportunities to decrease the environmental impact of our disposable hot cups, which represent more than half of all the paper we buy. We are now focusing our efforts on addressing the source of the paper we use to make our cups. We believe our biggest impact has come from the introduction of our white 10 percent post-consumer recycled fiber (PCF) hot cups in our U.S. and Canada stores in 2006.

Starbucks was the first company in the United States to use 10 percent PCF fiber in hot beverage cups which, according to Environmental Defense's Paper Calculator, has significantly reduced the amount of wood we use by 11,300 tons - the equivalent of 78,000 trees in the first year alone.

Though Starbucks pays a slight premium for the PCF cups, we believe the long-term impact of using this more environmentally-friendly option is worth the additional cost. Our commitment to corporate social responsibility initiatives such as this underscores our long term investment in continuing to operate our business in a responsible way.

Other actions taken by Starbucks to reduce the environmental impacts of our disposable cups include:

Working to eliminate most double-cupping by utilizing corrugated hot beverage sleeves made of 60 percent post-consumer recycled fiber.
Offering customers a $0.10 discount when they use their own reusable cups. Customers in the U.S. and Canada took advantage of this offer more than 17 million times in fiscal 2006, keeping 674,000 pounds of paper from going to the landfill.
Providing "for here" mugs for customers who choose to enjoy their beverages in-store.

I hope you find this information useful. Thanks again for writing.


Julie S.
Customer Relations
Starbucks Coffee Company

Starbucks - what are ya thinking?

Make no mistake, I am not a tree-hugger ... not by any stretch of the imagination. I still consume what I need, enjoy a good piece of meat, but one thing that I will say, is that I am socially aware and in fact, waste very little.

Pardon the pun, but I have a big beef with Starbucks. Why is it that whenever I go to any Starbucks, and I have gone to approximately 20 in the past 60 days, my hot beverage is double-cupped? In other words, they use 2 cups for every hot drink. If the drink is heated to like a gazillion degrees, is that really necessary? Is hot simply not hot enough?

Just do the math and you'll see the hundreds of millions of cups Starbucks uses every year. Now double that!

Get my picture? I bet.

For a company that prides itself on caring for the environment, I'd be interested in knowing their rationale.

Watch this space for more details.