LunchBots

Dear Starbucks Drinker,

I’d originally considered writing this letter to Starbucks, nudging them to encourage customers to bring their own reusable cups and up their efforts in reducing waste. But then I realized it takes two. To be fair, Starbucks has offered 10 cent discounts to customers who bring their own cups since 1985. Among many other efforts, they’ve held three Cup Summits, bringing together experts in the product packaging industry to try and come up with ways to make their cups more recyclable.

But still, about 4 billion coffee cups get thrown away each year.

What’s the hold up? And what can we do to help?

The most obvious answer is to not just stop at recycling, but to try and eliminate paper cup waste altogether through reusable cups. The company has said it hopes to serve 25 percent of its beverages in reusable cups by 2015, but admits it’s having a hard time with this goal. Right now less than 2 percent of their drinks are sold this way, despite the 10 cent program and past promotions for free beverages if you brought your own cup.

If discounts and free coffee aren’t motivators enough, I genuinely want to know what is. What keeps you from bringing a reusable cup when you grab your coffee fix in the morning? Are you still looking for the right reusable cup? Is it too hard to clean? Or do you simply forget most of the time?

Let us know what the barriers are and we’ll brainstorm ideas together and compile them in a letter to Starbucks. In the meantime, check out Starbuck’s Make a Difference tool, where you can calculate the personal impact of this small change and pledge to take part.

Let’s figure this out together, one cup at a time.

Sincerely,

Jacqueline Linder

Dear Eden Organic,

Lately, we’ve heard so much about Campbell’s announcing it will eventually start using BPA-free cans, but I wanted to take a moment to thank you, the one company that’s quietly been doing this since last century.

I realize not many people know you made the switch in 1999, after two years of going back and forth with your can suppliers, who wouldn’t disclose what chemicals were in their linings. Back then, BPA was not the big issue it is now, but new research was surfacing about its effects as a hormone disruptor.

Eden Organic’s president, Michael Potter, didn’t wait for BPA to make big headlines, or for customers to start demanding healthier, non-toxic food packaging. He made the switch because he knew it was the right thing to do. Your cans lined with enamel made from vegetable resin instead of harmful chemicals drove up costs by 15%–not a small number for a small company. Thanks for putting the health of your customers before the health of your bottom line.

Since you pioneered BPA-free lining in food cans, I’ve been thrilled to see several other companies follow suit. But didn’t anyone else find it odd that only smaller manufacturers were taking such initiative? I’m excited that Campbell’s decision will probably alert other major food companies that it’s time to take the toxins out of our food packaging, but I can’t help but wonder: Why did it take the world’s largest soup maker 13 years to take responsibility for the chemicals in their food products?

While Campbell’s announcement is a big deal, it’s also vague, saying they have “plans to make the switch as soon as it can find ‘feasible alternatives.’”

Feasible alternatives? Clearly those alternatives have been feasible for a while now. Let’s hope Campbell’s and the rest of the world catch up soon.

Thanks again for being a pioneer,

Jacqueline Linder