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Starbucks lovers, listen up: By 2025, single-use cups will largely be out, and reusable cups will be in.
As part of their plan to cut the amount of waste they generate by half, Starbucks says that in the next three years, most drinks will be served in reusable cups either from the Starbucks “Borrow a Cup” program or in customers’ own cups.
And for participating members, customers can expect more ways to earn Starbucks Rewards.
Here’s what you need to know about the Starbucks Borrow a Cup Program:
Bring your own reusable cups to get a $0.10 discount and bonus Stars added to your Starbucks Rewards.
An easy way to get a discount on your Starbucks coffee is to bring in your own reusable cup. You’ll receive a $0.10 discount on your coffee and 25 bonus Stars added to your Starbucks Rewards account.
This is the easiest and most reliable way to beat the most recent Starbucks price increases.
The new ‘Borrow a Cup’ program is being tested at select stores.
Starbucks is in the midst of testing the new Borrow a Cup program in a few stores in Seattle and Chicago. After that, expect Borrow a Cup to expand to Starbucks nationwide at some point in 2023. Right now, they’re just working out the kinks before the program goes national.
Earn extra Bonus Stars for when you Borrow a Cup.
Starbucks Rewards members earn one to two Stars for every $1 spent, but if you receive your Starbucks drink in a borrowed cup, you get Stars for your purchase, PLUS 10 Stars for returning the cup.
Getting a reusable cup costs a $1 deposit, which is credited back to your Starbucks account (along with the 10 Stars) when it’s returned to a contactless kiosk.
Let’s put this into numbers: If you preloaded your Starbucks card and spent $5 on a transaction, you’d earn 10 Stars for the transaction and another 10 for returning the borrowed cup. That applies to each borrowed cup — making it twice as easy to earn Rewards!
Starbucks is even retrieving borrowed cups from people’s homes.
Remember the front porch metal boxes for the milkman (or have you at least heard of that)? Starbucks is trying to bring that back. They’ve partnered with recycling company Ridwell to have their borrowed cups collected from your porch.
Sounds great, right? But Ridwell is only in the Portland and Seattle areas right now, and you have to be a Ridwell subscriber ($12 – $16/month) to opt in to the cup collection service. Stay tuned on that one.
