Wednesday, November 4, 2009

What's 10 cents?

Question: do you think that 10 cents is enough of an incentive to get you to bring a reusable mug when buying your morning coffee?

I know ten cents doesn’t make a difference to me, and after speaking to a few friends they agreed with me as well.

Coffee shops like Starbucks, Second Cup, and Tim Hortons offer their customers 10 cents off if they bring in a reusable mug. This is one of their ways of reducing environmental waste. Now don’t get me wrong, I think that it’s great that companies care about the environment so much that they want to reward customers for also being mindful.

However, think about how many people do go the extra mile to be environmentally conscious. Ok there are many, but it seems there are many more who aren’t acting on their environmental concerns.

Hands down I am one of those people who couldn’t be bothered in the morning to make my own coffee, I would much rather spend the few bucks and have someone do it for me. I would also rather someone hand me a clean cup with my beverage, one that I don’t have to wash later.

I know it’s pathetic, but I think it’s safe to say that I’m not alone. As a woman of convenience, whether I like to admit it or not, a 10 cent rebate is small potatoes. I am already paying for the convenience when brewing a pot of coffee takes just as long as standing in the morning line up at Tim Hortons, so I obviously don’t care about spending a few bucks everyday on a hot cup of java nor do I wish to lug around a coffee mug all day and have to wash it later –although I do.

I don’t carry around a reusable mug because I am getting a discount; I carry it around because I too care about reducing waste, which not everyone does.

So my question to coffee companies like Starbucks, Second Cup, and Tim Hortons is: if the incentive was greater do you think you could get more people on the reusable mug bandwagon? Ten cents seems like a penny when you are paying for a four dollar latte and it also seems like you guys wouldn’t be losing much money with this incentive, so would it be feasible to increase the discount?

Or am I just being a cheap and ungrateful customer?

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