Then I thought of something that wasn’t addressed in the article, perhaps it’s not all Starbucks fault. Why you ask? Well, here it is. What happens to those 4 billion cups after Starbucks pours their elixir of life into them? We gently press our foot on the gas pedal and ease into traffic slowly sipping on our freshly procured coffee. And we think texting and driving at the same time is bad. So that would mean, in a nutshell, that Starbucks doesn’t have the cup anymore … you do.
Where does it end up? The cup holder of the SUV alongside the McDonald’s breakfast sandwich wrapper destined for the trash can at home or a car wash dumpster. Either way, it’s not at Starbucks anymore. So how the hell can they be expected to recycle it? I am pretty sure that even if Starbucks said they would recycle every one of them, you wouldn’t even consider for a second turning that big white people mover around and taking it back.
So the next time you climb on the big corporation bashing bandwagon, consider this. DIY means more than painting the kid’s bedroom or fixing a hole in the fence. It also means cleaning up after yourself. An elderly gentleman I looked up to once gave me some advice. His advice was: “When you turn your mirrors into windows, the world becomes a much bigger place”.
Now, come back with something about the 9.2 Billion pounds of coffee grounds hurled into the trash every year, then I’ll join in the whoever bashing frenzy to help fix it. Leave the cups alone, that’s solely on you, the consumer. The coffee grounds … Starbucks, … shame on you, and you’re on your own with that one.