Starbucks recently announced that it will gradually phase out its iconic disposable cup in favor of reusable mugs. The Seattle-based chain claims it is aiming to “create a cultural movement towards reusables” by 2025 – by coercing the public into getting their drinks in reusable containers rather than single-use paper and plastic cups. (Starbucks had previously discontinued the use of plastic straws, replacing them with toddler-style sippy cup lids back in 2020. Yay!)

Michael Kobori, Starbucks’s “chief sustainability officer,” stated: “Our cup is ubiquitous, and we love that. But it is also this ubiquitous symbol of a throwaway society.” Meaning the existing cups don’t always end up in recycling bins.

The coffee chain behemoth will be instituting “borrow a cup” and/or “bring your own mug” programs. Starbucks customers will soon be able to use their own reusable mugs at every Starbucks store in the U.S. and Canada, regardless of what beverage they order…even if they pay ahead or use the drive-through. The company is also considering allowing customers to “borrow” a reusable mug or cup from the store by paying, say, a $1 deposit, which would be refunded with the vessel’s return.   

The java outlets will install washing stations for the reusable cups-- perhaps next to the disposable needle boxes located near the bathrooms that drug addicts frequent since the company directed its employees to consider anyone who enters a Starbucks a “customer,” whether or not they intend to make a purchase. Unsurprisingly, this policy led to throngs of homeless drug addicts lounging around many a Starbucks outlet.  

The company is also said to be considering additional discounts and fees for U.S. customers based on their participation—or lack thereof—in the new woke program(s). So, if you bring your own cup (BYOC), you would get a discount on your order and if you don’t you would pay an additional fee? A Pistachio Latte, normally $5.25, would be, say, $4.25 if you bring your own cup (BYOC), but $6.25 if you didn’t?

What’s next? Will people who walk, bike, or skateboard to a Starbucks be charged less than those who come by automobile? Will those arriving in electric cars get a discount while those in vehicles powered by large internal combustion engines are made to pay a surcharge? Will those sporting bicycle shorts, helmets, and a “Bernie Bro” or “I’m For Her” button get special offers while those adorned with a “MAGA” hat are refused service?

And what else will customers be expected to provide when patronizing coffee shops, fast-food outlets, and “convenience stores?” Will we soon be expected to bring our own dishes and silverware with us when we visit McDonald's?

In that case, virtue-signaling entities like Starbucks should volunteer to get rid of their drive-throughs, so as not to encourage the endless parade of greenhouse-gas-spewing vehicles attempting to purchase something from them. They should eschew heating their stores in the winter and air-conditioning them in the summer. They should tear up the acres of asphalt around them and plant native grasses and flowers. And they should replace their modern bathrooms with outhouses to conserve water—and to provide compostable material to enhance the growth of the native grasses and flowers!

The more giant corporations denigrate the profit motive and espouse woke “fixes,” the less they seem to care about anything else but profit. You can clearly see this with Amazon, Coca-Cola, Facebook, etc., etc. And Starbucks. Similarly, the more leftists blame the rest of us for every problem, the more obvious it becomes that they lack accountability, integrity, and soul.

We aren’t the problem, people. They are.

It’s high time we woke up and smelled the coffee.

Photo credit: Engin_Akyurt Pixabay license