How Dunkin’ can help us reduce waste, one refill at a time

There are many times when single-use waste could be avoided, and our morning cup of coffee is one of them.

Deutschlandreform | Shutterstock.com

Take Action

Coffee and a donut are sweeter when they don’t come with a side of garbage.

Dunkin’ hands out plastic and paper cups to millions of customers every day, and while some might get recycled, many end up in trash cans or as litter on the sidewalk.

If more customers had the option to bring their own cups each day, it would save a ton of waste.

The problem with paper cups

Dunkin’ switched from using polystyrene foam cups to paper cups for hot drinks in their stores in 2020 — a big step away from the harmful chemicals and wastefulness of polystyrene foam.

But many paper cups have a plastic or wax coating that prevents them from being recycled or breaking down naturally, plus, they’re usually topped with a plastic lid, too. The plastic cups used for cold drinks are single-use, so after only a few minutes, that cup will end up in the trash where it will never break down.

In the United States, we produced an estimated 110 million tons of paper and cardboard waste in 2019. Approximately 56% of it went to the landfill, 6% was incinerated, and 38% was recycled.

Recycling might seem like the gold standard of waste reduction, but it’s actually the least efficient and final step in the Reduce, Reuse, Recycle triad. What’s far more reliable than recycling is reducing the need for single-use cups in the first place. 

The benefits of reusable coffee cups

There are many cases when single-use waste could be avoided, and our morning cup of joe is one of them. How much more sustainable (and convenient) would it be if you were allowed to bring in your own favorite coffee container to be filled up in the store? 

Reusable coffee cups and containers are readily available, and for many coffee shops, customers bringing in their own cup is commonplace. That tells us that people understand the waste problem at hand and want to make a difference — but company policy may need an update.

Dunkin’ has shown that it cares about the environment, and we celebrated when it got rid of polystyrene foam containers. Now Dunkin’ can take the next step by allowing people to bring their own reusable cups at every location.

Together, we can help convince Dunkin’ to reduce the waste sitting in landfills, trash cans, littering our streets and floating in the oceans.

Add your name today.

Topics