A new environmental initiative by Starbucks could keep millions of paper cups out of landfills.
The coffee giant will begin selling branded reusable cups for $1.
It started offering the cups in a pilot program in the Pacific Northwest last year, and the cups are now available at every Starbucks location in the United States and Canada.
"I think it's a good first step because it does raise awareness," said Julie Urlaub of environmental consulting firm Taiga Company. "This is a campaign that's in alignment with the company's values and their sustainability plan."
Starbucks already offers a 10-cent discount to customers who bring their own cup, but it has been difficult to shift consumers' behavior.
In 2008, Starbucks set a goal of serving 25 percent of drinks in reusable containers by 2015, but the company has since dialed that down to 5 percent in the wake of slow adoption. Currently, only 2 percent of Starbucks customers opt for a reusable cup.
But maybe the company isn't offering enough of a discount.
"The 10 cent discount Starbucks offers seems a bit low if the purpose is to get consumers who have purchased reusable cups to actually use them," said Jinhua Zhao, a professor and director of the Environmental Science and Policy Program at Michigan State University.
When a latte is already $3 or $4, what's an extra 10 cents?
And the plan could backfire, both for the company and for the environment.
"Ironically, if they sell a large number of travel mugs that end up not being used, they may worsen their environmental footprint in the long run," said Catherine L. Kling, economics professor at Iowa State University.
But it's good to see Starbucks doing something, rather than becoming yet another unabashed corporate greenwasher. Here's hoping the initiative works. After all, when a latte is already $3 or $4, what's an extra $1?