Why Can’t You Use Your Cup at Starbucks Right Now
If you regularly bring your cup to Starbucks for a discount (and, you know, for the entire planet), you should know that the coffee chain has changed its policy in light of the coronavirus outbreak.
Along with stepping up cleaning procedures for stores, Starbucks has “suspended” the use of personal cups and mugs in the store. In a letter posted on the company’s website, Starbucks US ‘s Rossann Williams wrote: “We will continue to provide a 10-cent discount to anyone who brings a personal cup or asks for dishes ‘here’.”
The chain closed many of its stores in China last month at the peak of the outbreak in that country, but reopened most of them by the end of February.
“We will continue to stay close to our partners and local health officials and we hope this will be a temporary situation,” Williams wrote.
If you’re taking your reusable cup on your way to the door specifically because you’re heading to Starbucks, it might not be worth carrying it around as you won’t actually be able to use it. But if you already have a cup with you and have dropped by, it’s nice to know you can still show off and get a dime off.
Otherwise, it is sadness for the Earth, but quite understandable for this limited indefinite time.