Around the Sun: A Blog About Saving Money in Portland, Oregon, and beyond

My Reusable Cup Comes With Me

October 15th, 2007

Today is Blog Action Day, a worldwide initiative to bring bloggers together to discuss a single topic on the same day. More than 15,000 bloggers have committed to discuss this year’s issue, the environment. 

One of the things that I want to change in my life is to reduce the amount of waste that I produce. In honor of Blog Action Day, I wanted to see whether eateries around town would allow me to use my own reusable cup—and whether they’d provide any monetary incentive. I took a 16-ounce travel mug that I already owned to a range of places and ordered drinks both hot and cold.

Would they embrace my cup or kick it (and me) to the curb? Here are my experiences:

Stumptown Coffee Roasters, downtown: They gladly put my mocha, complete with leaf design made out of foam, in my travel mug. I also got 10 cents off.

Starbucks, Pioneer Place, first floor: In a last-minute decision, I ordered a vanilla bean blended frappuccino, rather than a mocha, just to mix things up. The cashier recited my order with ease, adding the word “personal” to indicate that I had my own cup: “Personal tall vanilla bean blended frappuccino, no whip.” Like Stumptown, I got a 10-cent discount.

Unfortunately, I realized too late that a blended frappuccino is not easy to sip. With regret, I used the disposable straw provided by Starbucks.

McDonald’s, Pioneer Place food court: I ordered a soda and asked the cashier whether I could use my own cup. She agreed but did not give my cup to the person actually assembling my order or seem to indicate my request in some other way (unless there’s a way to do this on the register). Afraid that a communication breakdown was imminent, I caught the order preparer’s attention and asked him to use my cup—he obliged. This was easy to do, since I was the only customer at the time. I imagine it would be difficult to use your own cup at busier times of the day. No discount.

Jamba Juice, Washington Square: Learning from my frappuccino flub, I asked the cashier whether Jamba offered “thin” drinks that wouldn’t require a straw. She recommended the yogurt-based smoothie Sunrise Strawberry. She accepted my cup and placed it in the order prep area. The place was busy; a handful of workers were making drinks. I fixed my eye on my cup, as I was unable to keep track of who was preparing my order. Before long, one of the smoothie chefs poured my drink into my cup…from a Jamba Juice disposable cup. Oh well. No discount.

Chipotle, Washington Green: I thought I might get a little more resistance from a place with self-serve beverage dispensers, so I took my cup to Chipotle to see what would happen. When the cashier asked me what I wanted to drink with my order, I asked whether I could fill my cup with water. He said, “No problem.” “And could I also use my cup if I ordered a soda?” I asked. “No problem.”

Takeaways: This experience taught me a few things:

• Carrying a cup around is not as much of a pain as I thought it would be, maybe because I have a big purse.
• Washing the cup is also not a big hassle.
• There’s little monetary incentive to using my own cup.
• Straws are more important to me than I thought they were. Unless I obtain a reusable straw, steering clear of straws means avoiding drinks that I love: bubble tea, frozen drinks, milkshakes.

Based on my experience, there’s no reason for me not to carry a reusable cup. It’s just the right thing to do. Being the frugal-minded person that I am, however, I would love to get a discount too, since the restaurants are saving money on cups. I’ll also look into getting a reusable straw, as I would love to still be able to enjoy a bubble tea without putting another plastic straw into a landfill.    

I encourage you to make a change in your life, big or small, to help our planet. And take some time today to read what others have to say about the environment at the Blog Action Day website.

Entry Filed under: Environment,Portland