Tacoma: Bring your own mug, get a discount on your coffee

Update: Bring Your Own Mug in Tacoma

According to a couple quick polls, people may be set in their ways when it comes to coffee cups. A total of 80 percent of MyNorthwest’s Facebook followers opt to not bring their own mug to coffee shops. A total of 71 percent of MyNorthwest’s Twitter followers said the same.

Do you bring your own mug to a #coffee shop? Why #Tacoma is asking people to do this >> https://t.co/IC5IyKbYzN

— MyNorthwest.com 🌲 (@Mynorthwest) October 22, 2018

Original article:

Is your disposable coffee cup actually getting recycled? In Tacoma, it isn’t, which is why the city is launching a “Bring Your Own Mug” program to encourage coffee-drinkers to keep cups out of landfills.

Tacoma’s Office of Environmental Policy and Sustainability is urging people to bring their own reusable mugs to coffee shops all through October. Participating businesses are offering free reusable cups, various promotions, paper straws, campaign stickers, and in some cases, discounts for anyone with their own mug.

Paper and foam cups aren’t recyclable in Tacoma, where the city estimates one in every two coffee customers takes their coffee in a single-use cup — they estimate one in five do the same at home.

Sarah Joslyn owns Red Elm on Tacoma’s Hilltop neighborhood, and told KIRO 7 that she’s offering a 50-cent discount for people who participate. Other outfits in Tacoma that will be participating in Bring Your Own Mug include:

• Oct. 8-12 – Connie’s Donuts & Espresso
• Oct. 15-19 – Lift Bridge Coffee, Metro Coffee, Metronome Coffee
• Oct. 22-26 – Red Elm Cafe, Corina Bakery
• Oct. 29-Nov. 2 – Olympic Coffee Roasting, Manifesto Coffee, Anthem Coffee & Tea, Bostwick Cafe

“This is a human-made problem with a human-made solution,” the city noted in a news release.

The movement to reduce waste from single-use cups is one that’s been gaining steam nationwide for a while now, starting with one of Seattle’s biggest local companies. Starbucks currently offers a 10 cents discount to any customer who brings their own reusable cup or mug.

The mug program ends Nov. 2. After that, the city will evaluate its success to decide how to continue reducing the number of wasted paper cups.

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