A barista grabs the mug, dries it and prepares Patton’s order — a 16-ounce Starbucks double espresso on ice. “Saving the environment is important and all, but I probably come here more in knowing that I’m going to get a dollar off,” says Patton, 27, a cancer researcher at Arizona State University. Two friends who came on the afternoon coffee run nod in assent as they hold the cups that they, too, brought along.
In an era where concern for sustainability can be good business, the Starbucks disposable cup may be on its way to extinction thanks to an unlikely force: Starbucks itself.