I will openly
admit it…I love Starbucks. I know. It’s against the Holy Grail of all things
cool and “actually” hipster, but hey, I’m not a hipster, so it’s all good. I
frequent the coffee shop about two to three times a week and I am proud to own
a few reusable travel mugs and iced coffee cups that I bring in and hand over
the counter to be filled. However, this morning I was in a rush and left my
travel mug in my apartment. In the grand scheme of things it’s not a huge deal,
but I wince a little bit every time a barista hands me a paper cup (even though
they are much more ecofriendly than they used to be). The same thing goes for
plastic bags at the grocery store. As a city dweller I walk to and from the
store every week, so remembering a durable reusable bag is totally worth it
from the I-don’t-want-sea-turtles-choking-because-of-me perspective and from
the common sense I-don’t-want-my-vegetables-falling-on-the-sidewalk side of
things. Although I have no problem unabashedly flaunting my eco-friendliness,
some of my friends find it a little odd that I will go back up the stairs to
grab that canvas bag from Old Navy and are slightly embarrassed to do it
themselves. It’s not that they are bad people or don’t care about the earth,
there’s just a lack of motivation and a societal status quo that encourages us
to be lazy and get that cool holiday themed disposable coffee cup. Well I’m
going to make you love sustainability, and it’s all because of your wallet. And
the sea turtles.
One thing most
people don’t know about Starbucks is that when you bring in your own reusable
mug, they will give you 10 cents off your drink. Now, that may not seem like much,
but let’s do the math on my caffeine habits. If I go an average three times a
week, I will save a total of thirty cents weekly. Multiply that by 52, and all
of the sudden at the end of the year I have an extra $15.60, which will go
straight into my fun budget (or, if I’m feeling really ambitious, my Emergency
Fund i.e. my last post). The 156 paper or plastic cups I haven’t used are an
added bonus. What was the the total saving in paper cups in 2012 you ask? Well,
last year coffee was served in reusable tumblers 35.8 million times, saving
more than 1.6 million pounds of paper from landfills. Not too shabby, my
friends!
The same thing
goes for paper or plastic bags. If you use your own bag at Whole Foods you save
10 cents for every bag you bring, and in some cities like Washington DC, it’s a
mandated law that you can save that 10 cents in any grocery store. It doesn’t
stop at Whole Foods either. In every Target, CVS, Safeway, Kroger, Winco and
Fred Meyer (I swear I’m not making names up…some of these stores are just
regional!) you can save money off your
total purchase if you use your own bags, If I use two reusable bags once a week for one
year, it adds up to $10.40 (considering you receive the ten cent savings).
Again, I know that may seem like a pittance amount, but I am stubborn enough to
keep these habits up, so over my lifetime I will save around $1500. Oh, what a
twenty something could only dream about doing with that sum of money to spend
guiltlessly.
From just a
sustainability perspective or a financial perspective alone, this argument may
not be that convincing. But that, my friends, is what the beauty of my blog is
all about. When the two merge together it becomes more than just money and more
than just a few trees. So if you’re embarrassed or annoyed at the thought of
lugging your own reusable bag or travel mug somewhere, take solace in this: you
will make the person behind you in line wince at the thought that they won’t
get the discount. And hey, the clink of another dime in your piggy bank isn’t
bad either.
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