"coffee cups" news and stories

A New Zealand company is using some unusual tactics to grab customers' attention. The Brazil cafe commissioned a company to create specialty branded trash cans to promote their coffees. The trash cans are shaped like coffee cups, complete with protective sleeve and stir stick, and shout "Coffee taste like crap?" insinuating that coffee drinkers should ditch their sub-par beverages and head for a Brazil location, to which the cans helpfully point the way. Located in a popular Auckland neighborhood with many independent cafes as well as corporate chains, the cans that were placed outside a Starbucks had their slogans removed by Starbucks employees who were unhappy about them. There is little doubt that the company wasn't a big fan, either.

[Image via Adrant]

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Starbucks is in the process of replacing their current cups with cups made of 10% recycled paper and their heat-insulating cup sleeves are already made of recycled paper, but the company may soon have a new, environmentally-friendly option. A new company based in the Seattle Area, MicroGreen Polymers, says that it has developed a way to make insulated coffee cups out of recycled plastic bottles. Not only does the company believe that their cups, which are less than a year away from full commercial production, will be cheaper than the more traditional paper cups, but the production process creates no harmful gasses. The cups are created by infusing plastic with tiny air bubbles, creating an air cushion within the material of the cup to protect your hand from the heat. Because there is less physical material in the cups, the plastic from one bottle can be used to make five to seven 12-ounce coffee cups. MicroGreen Polymers has signed a development agreement with Reynolds Food Packaging, so it may not be long before a new wave of eco-friendly materials hit the stores.

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