While cruising the internet, I found a fantastic video on disposable paper cups. The clip is about 90 seconds long, and was made by a group of students at the University of Washington. Besides the collection of great pictures and impressive facts, the message is important - that using your own coffee cup can have an astounding environmental impact. It’s worth watching.

To those familiar with Sustainability Is Sexy, the message will be familiar. The video does; however, point out one interesting fact that SIS hasn’t touched - There are no recycling bins in Starbucks stores.

Why is this? After all, Starbucks is headquartered in Seattle, a caldera of eco-awareness. And the Emerald City doesn’t just talk the talk when it comes to the environment. According to Sustainable Industries, Seattle broke records in 2006 when nearly 50% of it’s collected waste went to recycling plants. The city did it again in 2008, when Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels banned plastic water bottles from city events, and proposed a fee on all paper and plastic grocery bags (a first in the nation, according to the Seattle Times).

However, it’s doubtful that Starbucks suffers from evil corporation syndrome. In fact, the answer may lie more in the realm of common sense. Most of the garbage produced by Starbucks is in the form of disposable coffee cups - and those cups can’t be recycled. The 2.3 billion “to-go” cups used by Starbucks every year are made from paper and covered with a thin plastic coating during the manufacturing process. SIS research shows the polyethylene plastic keeps liquids from leaking - but also renders the cup unrecycleable.

Not to say that Starbucks isn’t a purveyor of the problem. Twenty years ago, a stop into a coffee house was a rare part of morning routines. It was the Starbucks expansion in the 1990’s that led to the coffee culture phenomenon. And that phenomenon led to the prevelance of disposable coffee cups. Today, there’s not only a Starbucks on every corner, but a disposable cup in every coffee drinker’s hand.

So what can be done about the 2.3 billion cups that land in our nation’s dumps every year? Some environmentalists advocate that Starbucks should do more to make a recycle friendly cup. According to an article in the Columbus Dispatch, a manager of materials and engineer at SOLO Cup believes Starbucks isn’t doing all the can. “It’s all about the money; the question is whether they would be willing to pay for it”. Others advocate for a the coffee giant to make compostable cups, as does it’s regional rival, Tully’s Coffee.

However, both of these band-aid solutions avoid the real problem at hand - that our caffeine habits have become reliant on disposables. In the end, it’s up to the consumer. As an eco-friendly coffee drinker, you have the option to use your own reusable mug every day. Bring it! You’re efforts will save trees and energy, and reduce landfill garbage. If every coffee drinker used their own cup, there would be no need for recycle friendly disposables.

Who knows, maybe one day we could even rid Starbucks of the need for garbage cans too.