One Buck No Chuck

So by now you have heard of Starbucks initiative to get their customers to go green. For the low, low, low price of one dollar, you can have yourself a reusable grande sized cup. When I first heard of this I thought a) cool and 2) sketchy. I agree with their push for multiple use containers, but at the same time I don't know how well they will hold up. I think I read somewhere it would be good for about 30 uses, so really... how safe is that? Does the constant hot water added to it somehow soften the material and maybe stretch it out? And really... how can they possibly sell it for a dollar?

I planned my super secret coffee cup mission for last night, but it was cold as hell. No way was I leaving my warm house for a cup. So I pushed it off to do. It just so happened there was a Starbucks not too far from the restaurant M and I had dinner at so I dragged him there to see what this was all about. 

For starters, this thing looks flimsy. As in it doesn't really look like plastic. The cup looks and has a somewhat similar feel of those glossy, texturized foam coffee cups. But unlike those cups, you can't crush it easily (not that I'm really trying with this buck cup... it has to last me a while). The lid also has a flimsy look about it, but it is probably the strongest of the two parts.

Opening this cup... was difficult. I wasn't sure if it was a twist off, like most of my travel mugs, or just a pop off, like the disposable ones. I still don't know, I made M open it for me, as well as close it after I added some sugar (not that it helped, it was still bitter. But I will say I did like the cafe latte I ordered).

I'm going to need to use it a few more times before I decide if it's really worth it. If you're a habitual Starbucker (HS), than I'm guessing you'd be better off buying one. But then again, if you're a habitual Starbucker, you already have some sort of Starbuck travel container, so it may be of no use to us. I am not a HS, but I did pilfer my sister's Starbucks mug years ago. I still use it because it is AMAZING. My hot coffee I put in there in the morning is still warm at lunch, and lukewarm when I leave work in the afternoon. Yeah. I'm a slow drinker.

Back to this thing. You buy it and you get the ten cents off your purchase for using a reusable cup. Every time you bring it in for a drink you will get ten cents off, and they'll clean it for you (but they usually do that with all the reusable stuff people bring in). So the cup is paid off in ten drinks. And you've saved the landfills from ten paper coffee cups.

Go you.

High five.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to hide my new cup. M called dibs on it.