Our compostable-reusable coffee cups have just landed in a new Seattle shop! Not A Number, located just east of the University District on 45th Street in Wallingford (the ‘hood that could), recently began stocking their shelves with our coffee cups. The store is an amalgamation of environmental goodies, political schwag, and gifts and toys that’ll blow your mind. Think a sliver of Spencer’s Gifts, a dash of Politics R Us, and 100% Seattle soul.
Not A Number is run by Jon and Kara; who I first met at the Seattle Green Festival in 2008. These two have been a support to the Seattle community since first opening their doors five years ago. The store has hosted veterans’ events, local candidate forums, and book readings by progressive authors. Countless local artists and small businesses (like us!) have found a home for their passion on the shelves of Not A Number.
Stop by Not A Number for one of our very green and very sexy coffee cups. If you want a cup but cannot trek to Wallingford for your 16 ounces of eco-friendliness, order one online!Our webstore hosts several different coffee cups, and a collection of T-shirts. Find it here at: www.SustainabilityIsSexy.com
Coffee Cup Snap Shot
Worry no more about the effects of petroleum and plastic coming from standard cups. This reusable-compostable cup is made using 100% US grown corn. The lid is a flexible rubber, certified safe by the FDA.
A few weeks ago, Canada’s Evolution 107.9 radio station featured Sustainability Is Sexy on a short feature called Our Planet Earth. The station let us run with the script – our conversation jumped from the environment, to coffee cups, to what makes sustainability so sublimely sexy.It’s a great clip.
Besides being entertaining, this radio show was personally inspiring.Interviews like this one help revive the roots of our group, and remind us why our campaigns are so effective.It’s easy to run a program to promote reusable coffee cups, but it’s much more difficult to host one that’s successful and achieves a real impact.Simply put, boring campaigns with underwhelming messages and banal tactics just don’t work.
Earlier this week, I spent some time trading emails with a student group who was interested in promoting reusable coffee cups on their campus, and they landed on the same thoughts I was having throughout the radio show:
“We don’t just want to use posters or invite speakers - IT IS BORING.We want people to join us and have fun, we’d like to talk to people and help them understand their impact on the environment and their responsibility.”
Now I think posters and speakers can be great – but it has to be the right posters and the right speakers.After all, plenty of bands still use posters and speakers to fill concert venues.Encouraging coffee drinkers to practice eco-friendly habits can only be done with engaging, exciting ideas that exhibit raw energy – just like a good rock and roll band would do.
“When I told my career counselor that I liked to travel, this is not what I had in mind”.Three hours into a business conference, and I was already tapping my heels to go home.I’d flown the red-eye the night before, had woken to a generic continental breakfast with generic coffee, and was now watching a generic powerpoint presentation.Living out of a suitcase is no picnic, as any business traveler will tell you.
To me, even more offending than the verbose speaker were the bad environmental habits on display.Disposable coffee cups, disposable water bottles, disposable lunches – throw-away conveniences flourish in the conference environment.I have a hunch that some of the discomfort felt by conference-goers tends to be caused bad environmental habits.It’s no secret that coffee is more enjoyable from a durable mug than from a paper one.Talk About Coffee published a thorough articlea year ago, detailing how paper cups can negatively affect the taste of coffee.The basic gist is that pieces of the disposable cup disintegrate into the coffee and contaminate the flavor.Also, disposable cups don’t hold heat.
Even more recently, a psychology study from Sheffield University in the UK concluded that coffee (and tea) tastes better when enjoyed from a favorite cup.
My own theory on the correlation between bad eco-habits and poorly received business conferences is cultural.Most of us grow up learning the importance of hosting a party properly.We clean up the house before guests arrive, we serve cold drinks, and we break out the good china when important people drop by.
When a host ushers conference-goers to a coffee table with cheap throw-away cups, attendees are reminded that their comfort isn’t actually all that important.
There are exceptions.At a recent one day conference in California, my conference hosts took subtle measures to boost conference-goes mood.Immediately noticeable were the coffee cups.At this conference, ceramic coffee mugs had replaced the ubiquitous paper cups commonly used.The same was true for other foods and drinks.Pitchers and cups replaced plastic water bottles; a serving pitcher replaced individual coffee creamers; sugar came in a dish instead of in little packets.
Given my thoughts on reusable coffee cups, I felt like cart wheeling down the halls in excitement.But it wasn’t just the eco-obsessive who seemed to enjoy the change.Everyone in the room seemed to feel more comfortable and at ease.As an audience, we seemed more eager to participate in discussions, ask questions, and work in groups when asked.The conference hosts benefitted too.Every conference photo that was taken, tweeted, or posted to a blog showed conference attendees holding coffee cups branded with the host company’s logo.
Planning a conference?Why not treat your attendees well, and nix the disposable materials.You’ll do a small part for the environment, and your attendees will thank you.
My father once explained to me why the Grateful Dead was so successful. “The Dead would take their money and pump it right back into their shows. When other bands were comfortable with house sound systems, the Grateful Dead spent a fortune developing a monstrous Wall of Sound that could be heard from a quarter mile away. Phil Lesh’s bass lines were so deep and loud that you didn’t just hear them - you felt them. The Grateful Dead weren’t selfish, they never focused solely on profit, and they cared about their fans and the music community. That’s why Deadheads are so loyal”.
Businesses often talk about customer loyalty. Yet it’s rare for a business to see the type of loyalty that was developed by the Dead. Pepsi-heads? McDonaldites? I think not.
However, some progressive organizations are beginning to take lessons from the jam band, and it’s beginning to show. Peace Coffee, a Minnesota based coffee company, is growing at an annual rate of 20%. This is a great rate during good times… but an absolute miracle considering today’s financial environment. For perspective, China’s growth rate in 2008 was around 10%. Starbucks saw annual growth rates of 27% during the dot-com decade. How is Peace Coffee able to seem unaffected by the financial storm in which we find ourselves? It’s hard to say without being the company accountant, but I have a hunch it’s from a business philosophy that considers a triple bottom line.
The term “triple bottom line” was coined in 1994, but the idea is older than that. Conceptually, a triple bottom line refers to a business practice of measuring and basing decisions on financial performance, ecological impact from company operations, and social effects on workers and their communities. At its reduction, the triple bottom line means caring about people, planet, and profit.
Peace Coffee applies the triple bottom line theory throughout a multitude of business aspects. Regional deliveries are done through bio-diesel vans or by bicycle. The coffee beans are grown by small coffee farmers and cooperatives and certified as fair trade. Peace Coffee’s recently installed coffee roaster is also equipped with a catalytic oxidizer - which burns away hydrocarbons to limit emissions. And these are just the tip of the iceberg. A full enumeration can be found at the Peace Coffee website, here.
The idealists in all of us love stories such as these. But the selfish cynics in the back of our minds are wondering “What’s in it for the business?”. Of course, the immediate effect of Peace Coffee’s triple bottom line will be beneficial to its surrounding environment and communities. The benefits even spread to small fair trade farmers and help pump money into eco-sound businesses, such as bio diesel companies. But the practice also develops long-lasting customer loyalty and relationships. Today’s customers are demanding that businesses be more personal, and more socially and environmentally conscious. Every time Peace Coffee delivers a product by bicycle, their meeting that specific consumer demand. And just like the Grateful Dead, Peace Coffee is cultivating a community and developing a loyalty that can weather a financial storm.
Of course, the pendulum can swing both ways. Metallica, the guitar-slinging antithesis to the Grateful Dead - learned this lesson a decade ago. Metal-heads all remember when Metallica prioritized profits over its fans by suing Napster for enabling music piracy in 2000. The legal action created an exodus of hard rock fans, some of whom had been fanatically loyal since the band’s early days. Years later, people are still bitter and CD sales have never recovered. In 2007, Metallica was named #17 on Blender’s list of “biggest wusses in rock”, citing its lawsuit against Napster. And the 1990’s remain Metallica’s glory decade, with the band’s 2003 release selling only 2 million copies (compared with 14 million for 1991’s “Black Album”).
“Selling Out” can hit business just as bluntly as a hard rock band. Nike’s choice to prioritize profits over social responsibilities by using sweatshop labor caused an uproar in 1997 among consumers. Social justice groups sprang up to protest Nike and demand boycotts. Even my alma mater experienced protests and many student groups demanded that the university athletic programs refrain from outfitting teams with Nike products. The negative publicity was a nightmare for Nike’s PR department, and the company’s reputation has remained stained ever since.
In the end, it truly depends on consumer demands. Consumers are evolving. We’re placing demands to businesses that are more complex than “cheaper and better”. Customers have become more engaged in many aspects of business. We want to see Company Social Responsibility Reports, we want to know carbon footprints, and we want to know that our money isn’t having a negative impact somewhere in the world. So do the other bottom lines truly count in the business world? For Peace Coffee and others, the answer should be a deafening YES.
Peace Coffee riders stay sustainable with reusable coffee mugs
Sustainability Is Sexy Plug:
Our online store is once again having a discount sale. Order any T-shirt, tank top, or canvas grocery bag by February 11th and receive a 14% discount. If you’re looking for a Sustainability Is Sexy reusable coffee mug, email support@sustainabilityissexy.com.
If you had the chance to sit down with the Starbucks’ Director of Environmental Impact, what would you ask him? This thought was racing through my mind as I turned into the parking lot of Seattle’s world famous coffee company. The opportunity to meet with Starbuck’s Director Jim Hanna had come with a turn of luck. An SIS blog post titled “Investigating Recycling and Starbucks” had made its way into the coffee giant’s headquarters, and Jim had emailed me a response. Now, I was getting ready for a face-to-face interview to talk about the environment, paper cups, coffee, and Starbucks.
Like any other global company, Starbucks has fallen under scrutiny when it comes to its environmental impact. And like other global companies, they have pushed back with environmental initiatives and programs. Was Starbucks guilty of green-washing, or did the company truly care about the impact it had on our environment?
Environmentalism is essential to our core business, Jim explained while sipping a Tazo tea. At its heart, Starbucks is an agriculture business. Its success relies on a steady supply of coffee beans from around the world. The beans which Starbucks buy must meet certain quality and price considerations. Coffee farmers depend on highly specific climates and growing practices to meet those standards. Eco-harming pesticides can ruin the coffee flavor. And climate change could drastically alter the price we coffee lovers pay for a latte. For Starbucks, being green is akin to long-term survival.
Environmentalism is more than just coffee beans for Starbucks. “What about the eco-impact of disposable paper coffee cups?” I asked over my sandwich. After all, the 16 billion paper coffee cups used in the US every year add up to a lot of landfill garbage and consumed natural resources. Jim pointed out that Starbucks was the first company to offer paper coffee cups partially made from recycled content. The cups, 10% of which is post-consumer recycled fiber (PCF), is estimated to save tens of thousands of trees, a half million gallons of wastewater, and several million pounds of garbage from being trucked to landfills.
“Why only a 10% PCF cup?” I ventured. “Wouldn’t a 100% cup be 10 times better?” Jim explained that the technology to make a higher PCF content cup just isn’t viable today. The main problem stems from differences in the fibers of recycled paper. Recycled paper fibers are shorter than those in non-recycled paper. This means that a coffee cup made using recycled fibers requires more paper pulp. And as more recycled content is added – more paper is used – economists call this the law of diminishing returns. We may one day see a cup made completely of recycled paper - but the technology needs to catch up first.
The sugar coating is that the new cup technology is not patent protected. Coffee chains, local coffee stands, and even college campuses can now purchase disposable cups made of 10% recycled paper. Jim hopes that more companies will begin using the 10% PFC cup – leading to a domino effect of environmental benefits.
Of course, the post-consumer recycled cup isn’t the only solution. The “Ecotainer”, a compostable corn-based cup, was debuted in 2007 by Tully’s Coffee and International Paper. Since its introduction, the cup has been well received. Did Starbucks choose the wrong cup?
Jim pointed to some major issues with corn-based cups that didn’t fit well with Starbucks. Firstly, the compostable cup shifts the eco-responsibility from the company to the coffee-drinker. For a corn-based cup to have an effect, the consumer needs to throw the used cup into a compost bin. No compost bins around? Uh oh, then that compost cup is destined for a landfill.
For Tully’s and other local coffee shops this wasn’t a big issue – composting is a growing movement throughout Seattle and the Pacific Northwest. But Starbucks is a global company that needs global ideas, and composting just isn’t being done on a global scale …yet. That’s not to say Starbucks is anti-composting. My lunch from Starbucks Headquarters was wrapped in compost-friendly packaging. And judging by the overflowing compost bin – and the nearly empty garbage can next to it – it seemed the compost idea is a hit with corporate employees.
Jim also noted that corn-based products can have other unforeseen consequences. Mexican citizens staged riots in 2007 because of high tortilla prices brought on by high corn prices. Many blamed the high prices on a soaring demand for corn to provide for the US with biofuels. Even in the US, consumers have seen food prices increase dramatically. Considering that Starbucks serves up 2.3 billion coffee cups a year, perhaps we should all be glad for the pass on compostable cups.
By choosing a disposable cup with recycled materials, Starbucks avoids both of those problems. According to Jim, Starbucks’ 10% PFC cup helps “close the demand loop” for recycled materials and will ultimately help stimulate the recycling business – a worthy cause in my book. The recycled content hot cup also guarantees a better eco-impact than standard cups, regardless of compost bin convenience.
In the near future, Jim hopes to see even bigger environmental policies enacted at Starbucks. Over the next year, Starbucks will reestablish ceramic cups as their standard for serving coffee, and pursue strategies to offer recycling throughout their stores. The company also participates in a variety of environmental coalitions to find solutions to sustainable packaging, supply chain sustainability, and creating the ultimate “to-go” cup – one that can be fully recycled.
And for customers who bring their own cups? Jim hopes to increase the number of BYOC customers by tenfold by 2010. He wasn’t ready to share the company’s strategy to make this happen, but who knows? Maybe a Sustainability Is Sexy campaign is just what an eco-friendly Starbucks needs.
They say half of all new businesses fail within the first year. They also say half of those remaining fail within the second year. By the third year, any business owner still around undoubtedly knows how to play the game.
It’s easy to tell if a coffee house is run by one of these vetted business intellects. The tell tale signs are visible almost immediately upon entering the store; ceramic mugs by the espresso machine, or signs urging customers to bring their own coffee cup by the register. By the time I pay for a coffee, the message is clear –this coffee shop thinks disposable cups are bad for business. Being a thrifty consumer, that small discount I earn when I BYOC always puts a smile on my face. But the smile of the coffee shop owner must be in a class all of its own. Thanks for the discount, I think to myself. No, thank you, the coffee shop owner chuckles back.
How are disposable cups bad for business? Truth be told, it’s all because of the bottom line. Disposable cups cost money, and high overhead costs can be fatal to a business. Even more so, offering disposable cups does nothing to enhance customer appreciation, nor does it help a coffee house attract new customers. The coffee industry is already oversaturated with competition – and it’s becoming more important to stand out from the crowd.
These conclusions are illustrated in a study published by Starbucks and the Environmental Defense Fund. The two organizations teamed up in April of 2000 to develop a set of strategies to reduce the environmental impact of serving coffee. In so doing, the group also found that reducing their environmental impact contributed toward better finances in three specific ways:
First, let’s examine the claim that the supporting reusable cups saves coffee houses money. At its heart, it’s a logical claim. After all, when customers BYOC, coffee houses don’t have to pay to purchase disposable cups. This might seem like small savings, but the table below (reproduced from the Starbucks/EDF report) illustrates just how quickly it can add up:
Researchers concluded that Starbucks could save hundreds of dollars a day just by offering reusable coffee cups. Depending on the size of a coffee house’s customer base, the potential savings are impressive.
The second claim - that reusable cups increase customer satisfaction - originates from market research studies published in the same Starbucks/EDF report. Researchers found that 82% of customers surveyed favored reusable coffee cups. These customer noted that reusable cups “insulated coffee well, were attractive, and prevented waste” - all very good reasons. 59% of those surveyed cited environmental concerns as their primary reason for supporting reusable coffee cups. Interestingly, this survey took place in 2000, before global warming became a main-stream issue in the public eye. Chances are that even more customers favor reusable coffee cups in a “post-An Inconvenient Truth” world.
The final claim is that reusable cups can help a coffee business develop an identity to which customers can relate. Marketing people call this “developing brand equity”. Customers may think, I can buy my coffee anywhere, so why should I buy it at this coffee house? The answer is in a company’s brand. For example, drinking a Starbucks coffee has always been more than just coffee. Beginning in the 90’s, that white cup and green logo became part of an image, even part of a lifestyle. Right now, McDonald’s is working to brand its new espresso products as the antithesis of Starbucks. Billboards that state “Espresso served cold, not snobby” are hoping to capitalize on consumers who like their espresso, but don’t identify with the Starbucks image.
So how do reusable cups factor into positive brand equity? Remember that more than half of surveyed coffee drinkers care about the environment, and those same coffee drinkers are looking for businesses with which they can identify. A coffee house which displays support for reusable coffee cups is also branding itself as an environmentally aware and socially conscious business - something which is important to more than half of all coffee drinkers!
Regardless of the environmental implications, it’s hard to ignore the positive financial benefits reusable coffee cups offer. Sustainability Is Sexy offers programs which help businesses transform the potential of reusable coffee cups into real results. More information about these programs can be found at www.SustainabilityIsSexy.com/Join.html.
To steal from conventional investing wisdom – why should a business work to pay for coffee cups, when those coffee cups could be working to pay the business?
Last week, I was asked a question which completely stumped my brain. “Which is the most eco-friendly disposable cup to use?” The question was asked by a writer from CHOW magazine who was working on an article about environmentally-friendly parties. The article, Drunk on Recycling, was published today and speaks more about disposable party cups than about coffee. Nonetheless, it’s still a good article. The writer raises the question about whether or not it’s acceptable to ask guests to bring their own cup to a party. Of course, answers to this question vary. Most readers seemed hesitant to ask guests to BYOC, and elected instead to use cups from their own shelves. After all, cups are cheap and easy to come by, many said.
But that still leaves the original question, “Which is the most eco-friendly disposable cup?” After the question was posed to me, I began researching the issue. The information I found reminded me of playground argument. The paper cup guys claimed some victory by arguing that their cups take less energy and materials to make than do Styrofoam ones. The Styrofoam people fought back, asserting that their cups could be recycled, whereas paper cups were destined for a landfill. Even newly made compostable cups carried some baggage. One “green” coffee roaster complained that his compostable cups leaked. And as is pointed out in the CHOW article, a compostable cup doesn’t do any good if there isn’t a compost bin in which to put it.
In the end, I came to this conclusion: There is no disposable cup which is truly eco-friendly. Using a cup only one time is wasteful because each one-time-use requires energy and materials and produces garbage. Just as it would be silly to wear a shirt only one time, or drive a new car every commute, it shouldn’t be accepted that we use a coffee cup just once.
This is a philosophy that can be applied to many in the disposable world. I spent a good part of my young adulthood shaving with a disposable razor. It was a abhorrent experience! The razors were cheaply made and didn’t work very well. I went through Gillette’s and Mach 3’s at an alarming rate, always looking for a fresh blade to keep a clean shave. After years and years, I made the switch to an electric razor. What a relief! No more garbage, no more spending money on new razors every few weeks which meant increased savings for me, and no more worrying about a patchy shave due to a dull blade. Not only did I do something to cut down on my own waste, but I turned an experience I normally detested into something which I now can enjoy. Clever, aren’t I?
The same philosophy ought to apply to your coffee habit. Why drink out of a cheap disposable that won’t keep your coffee hot? Treat yourself by using a cup that will make your coffee pleasurable all day long. It seems to me that the most enjoyable cup to use is also the most eco-friendly. Be responsible, use a reusable coffee mug, and enjoy!
I’ll be the first to admit - I spend a considerable amount of time on the internet. Some may say it isn’t healthy - but how can I give it up? The internet has become my number one resource for learning and staying connected. It serves as my phone book, my newspaper, and even now is replacing email and telephone time as a new way to interact with people.
There’s a lot of sites that connect eco-minded people and organizations. Unfortunately, it’s hard to test the waters without finding yourself submerged in a mess of networks, websites, and links.
One site I particularly like is GenGreen. It has a growing network of businesses and people, but their real strength is helping people find everything eco-minded. Think of this site almost as Google Gone Green. From their site, you can find Green Events, Coops and recycling centers, Green Business, and everything else. Best of all, your search is narrowed down by the state and region you live in. It’s nice.
The folks at GenGreen recently decided to place Sustainability Is Sexy as one of the featured businesses in Washington. If you’d like to check it out, here’s how to find us:
Go to gengreen.org
On the left hand side of the page, there is an image that says “Find.” Use the drop down menu to select your state, Washington.
From the Washington page, scroll down to view our “buttons” and select the button that says “Featured Businesses”
This page will display all of our featured businesses and organizations for the Western Region…. Sustainability is Sexy should be on the list!
If you do decided to join the GenGreen network, don’t forget to add Sustainability Is Sexy as a friend!
Sustainability Is Sexy packed up its bags and went back to it’s roots for Earth Day last week. The University of Washington hosted Seattle’s biggest Earth Day fair - and SIS was there to spread the message about coffee cups and waste.
It’s been close to a year since I graduated from UW. Returning to a familiar place from the past can be a bit nerve-wrecking. Would people still care? Would my message be taken seriously? Because I’m a “real adult”, would anyone listen?
The answer to those questions were overwhelming. We were hit with a stampede of interest even before our set-up was finished. Maybe it was the new “Sustainability Is Sexy” coffee mugs, or maybe it was the brilliant bright green all around. But no matter what the draw, everyone wanted to know what SIS was all about. Most importantly, everyone wanted to be a part of the solution. We went home with empty boxes, as most of our new cups and info packets were in the hands of eco-informed coffee drinkers.
Perhaps even more amazing than the amount of people we spoke to was the huge range of people interested. We spoke with everyone from students in Birkenstocks and faculty in suits (and of course, suited students and faculty in Birkenstocks). The message of saving the world with reusable coffee cups is something in which everyone can participate.
If you don’t believe students are active in today’s world, then this event would have blown your mind. Thanks to the guys from Your Revolution for organizing such a big event - you guys rock! If you’d like to read about the event and the groups which participated, you can find an article by The Daily at UW here.
Our compostable-reusable coffee cups have just landed in a new Seattle shop! Not A Number, located just east of the University District on 45th Street in Wallingford (the ‘hood that could), recently began stocking their shelves with our coffee cups. The store is an amalgamation of environmental goodies, political schwag, and gifts and toys that’ll blow your mind. Think a sliver of Spencer’s Gifts, a dash of Politics R Us, and 100% Seattle soul.
The Basics:
There are exceptions.
Peace Coffee applies the triple bottom line theory throughout a multitude of business aspects. Regional deliveries are done through bio-diesel vans or by bicycle. The coffee beans are grown by small coffee farmers and cooperatives and certified as fair trade. Peace Coffee’s recently installed coffee roaster is also equipped with a 
“Selling Out” can hit business just as bluntly as a hard rock band. Nike’s choice to prioritize profits over social responsibilities by using sweatshop labor caused an uproar in 1997 among consumers. Social justice groups sprang up to protest Nike and demand boycotts. Even my alma mater experienced protests and many student groups demanded that the university athletic programs refrain from outfitting teams with Nike products. The negative publicity was a nightmare for Nike’s PR department, and the company’s reputation has remained stained ever since.
Environmentalism is more than just coffee beans for Starbucks. “What about the eco-impact of disposable paper coffee cups?” I asked over my sandwich. After all, the 16 billion paper coffee cups used in the US every year add up to a lot of landfill garbage and consumed natural resources. Jim pointed out that Starbucks was the first company to offer paper coffee cups partially made from recycled content. The cups, 10% of which is post-consumer recycled fiber (PCF), is estimated to save tens of thousands of trees, a half million gallons of wastewater, and several million pounds of garbage from being trucked to landfills.
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