Tully's Switches Over to Compostable Coffee Cups
by Jasmin Malik Chua, Jersey City, USA on 09.19.07
Tully's Coffee is now the first major coffee retailer to use a fully renewable and compostable paper cup for its hot beverages.
With its use of International Paper's Ecotainer Hot Cup, which is lined with a bioplastic made from corn, rather than a petrochemical one, Tully's has also simultaneously launched an in-store collection program to divert the used cups and other compostable food waste to organic composting facilities, rather than losing them to the landfill.
The cup is the only commercially available 100 percent compostable hot cup certified by the Biodegradable Products Institute, a press release states. (No mention of whether the cups are now made of post-consumer recycled content, however; last we heard, they weren't, which really takes the "Eco" out of the "Ecotainer.")
In contrast, Starbucks underwhelmed us when it announced with much pomp that its cups would feature 10 percent recycled materials.
Do all these companies one better and take your own reusable commuter mug for your java fix. ::PaperAge
See also: ::How to Green Your Coffee and Tea
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"bioplastic made from corn, rather than a petrochemical one"
I find this statements like this kind of ironic considering how much petrochemicals it takes to grow the corn.
Congrats to them for the in-store collection facility. That's the real innovation here. There's plenty of "biodegradable" stuff going into landfill, but will it biodegrade?
I'm all for this personally.
I think the article is remiss in not stating that Tully's is increasing all of their prices by an average of 11 cents to cover their greening. They are not assuming the costs internally, but making the consumer pay.
It'll be interesting to see if people are willing to do a little green good and pay more for their cup of joe. Here in Seattle, Tully's stores are overwhelmed by Starbucks stores in popularity. And there are so many coffee shops in Seattle that people could easily switch from Tully's to a cheaper shop and not incur the added drink cost. I'd like to think that people would support Tully's cause...guess we'll find out.
FYI...This switch is also for their 92 company-owned stores; the 49 franchised stores are currently not required to make the change.