International coffee chain Starbucks sells a lot of cups of coffee. By its own estimate, Starbucks baristas dole out 6 billion cups annually, about 1% of the total cups served worldwide.
Starbucks has committed to reducing its contribution to the amount of waste to the world by exploring a variety of solutions such as creating cups out of more sustainable materials, eliminating utensils like single-use plastic stirrers and straws, and exploring reusable cup models, the latter of which the chain is piloting in its hometown of Seattle starting this month.
