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What? And abandon a time-honored Boston tradition?
....of DD customers throwing all kinds of shit with the purple & orange logo and packaging all over every sidewalk and construction site in town? C'mon! Where is our local culture headed, people?
Muchos kudos to the franchise owner who started his own recycling program. I hope even idea spreads to all 873,973 DD locations in the greater Boston area, and that people actually make use of recycling bins or better yet, commuter mugs (mine is awesome...perfectly sealed so I don't spill it on the bus or the T).
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who and the what now?
And even if you DO have a mug...
I've actually had DD employees tell me "naw, you can have a nice new cup; it's free and we have lots of em!"
Also, I've ordered a small coffee and been told my stainless steel travel mug was large, do they'd have to charge me for a large. It seriously took a several-sentence exchange for me to explain how to solve this problem.
Not that this is in any way related, but last week at work we were doing water play with a group of kids who are between 20 and 26 months, and most of them excitedly discovered that you can pour a small amount into a big container, but not a big amount into a small container. And these are kids who have/had developmental delays or are being watched for delays.
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Maybe just the one cup
I hate DD because of their policies. Recently, I discovered that the DD close to my work is charging 2.79 for a cappuccino rather than the advertised "new lower prices," gouging each purchaser for $.30. That's a lot of money when you add it up.
That aside, the cup thing drives me crazy. If your going to get an iced coffee, and don't want the cup to squishy or get sweaty or whatever the problem is, why not go with just the one polystyrene cup and forget the plastic one all together?
I'd rather go to Starbucks, my cappuccino is a dollar more, but it tastes better and I get what I pay for.
I have not had a DD coffee
I have not had a DD coffee in a long time but have seen the double cup thing. Maybe they should have those cardboard holder things like other places do so the cup is not so hot.
I have been in a DD and have seen that some charge you extra for the second cup. That alone should deter some.
He's talking about iced coffee
But that said, I usually get my Starbucks iced lattes with a cardboard thingie too, even though it doesn't quite fit - I have poor circulation, and it's painful to hold cold drinks for any length of time.
But I can't imagine that's all that common a problem... it's probably more like people who go get 'a napkin" and empty out the dispenser.
Napkin dispensers are poorly
Napkin dispensers are poorly designed. Most people want 3 or 4 napkins, but it's easier to grab 20 than it is to grab 1, have it rip, try for the second one, have it slip from your finger, and then eventually end up with 5 partial napkins in a trash heap on your tray.
Another solution
Have you tried an insulated mug? I have neurological issues and usually have numb hands/arms. I have one mug that's double-walled stainless steel that gets hottish or coldish to the touch, but not nearly so much that it bothers me. I also have some plastic insulated ones where the outside doesn't change whatsoever. Plus, a rigid wall is easier to hold onto if you have hand issues. And the planet prefers them.
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Oh, have I
Yes, they're great... when I was taking the commuter rail every day, I spent way too much time buying every possible model of insulated mug to find one that could not only keep my coffee hot/cold but fit in in my backpack's water-bottle pocket AND allow one-handed operation AND work with gloves AND not spill a drop when turned upside down.
Found one, too... of course, now I can't for the life of me remember which one is the "good" one.
I have a similar one I think
I've got one from Starbucks that's double-walled stainless steel. It's about the profile of a water bottle, no handle. The lid totally snaps closed. I've shaken it to test how awesome it was, and none of my boing spilled out. It's amazingly insulated too; I've left hot boing in it and had it be hot hours later. I've also left cold boing in it and it still had solid ice cubes in it at the end of the day. Pretty smoove.
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The DD's on Boylston and
The DD's on Boylston and Newbury rightfully charge extra for that service.
I'm no enviro-weenie but why
I'm no enviro-weenie but why are they still using styrofoam cups with all this green fever going around?
From an enviro-weenie
They're polystyrene, not styrofoam. They're a #6 plastic, so you can toss them in your recycling bin. Paper cups aren't recyclable, and if they're treated with enough material to hold hot liquid indefinitely, they take about 20-30 years to biodegrade, plus the materials to coat them aren't usually renewable. Polystyrene never biodegrades much, but is recyclable. So they're both about equal.
It's much better for the planet to use one mug that will stick around for 20 years rather than one cup EACH DAY that stays in a landfill for 20 years.
(FYI, Starbucks uses biodegradable corn-based cups and straws. I have one cup and one straw in my compost bin, and they're taking several months to break down, but they are at least renewable and biodegradable. Still, a mug is much much better, since it only has to use materials and energy to be manufactured once and transported once.)
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"Compostable" plastic is
"Compostable" plastic is only compostable in professional compost piles. Youll be waiting awhile
Professional?
I do know how to do hot pile, and am doing it in one of my bins. The stuff is starting to break down, but just not within a couple weeks like less processed corn products do. Is there another method you're thinking of that breaks it down even better?
Actually, Im not sure. I
Actually, Im not sure. I just know from having worked with the large boxes that these sorts of cups originally come in, and reading the labels. And the correct term would be "industrial composting" not professional. Maybe more heat needed? Or bacteria? Im sure there are websites that instruct on how to make it happen.
It's because their iced coffee cups
are not rigid enough (too easy to pop the top off if squeezed) & as the article also points out, slippery.
No, I do not double-cup. I got used to the plastic cups years ago, but there's no doubt that the "paper" cups they used to use for iced coffee were better, and I distinctly remember being dismayed at the handling of the new cups when they showed up.
I assume DD switched because 1. they want people to see their nice-looking iced coffee through the cup on a hot day to entice more prospective patrons and/or 2. maybe it's a recycling/materials concern (I say that after reading Eeka's informative post about, among other things, coated paper cups not being recyclable.)
Somehow I don't think it's the second
Given that DD tries to push disposable cups on people, insists that every item be put in a bag, has no way to not print a receipt, and doesn't have recycling bins or compost bins on the premises. Also no conspicuous printed reminders to recycle the cups or to use reusable.
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True - was giving benefit of doubt ;-)
I assume it was a cost thing, or cost + appearance, because IIRC the iced coffee cups used prior to the clear plastic were just a tall papery cup, and were much less squashy.
jackets for the DD cups
Dunkin Donuts iced coffee is a religion for me in summer time, and it really does bug me that they don't offer recycling for all those plastic cups. I hate bringing my own because with a little child, I am frequently in the drive-thru, and communication with them is enough of a hassle (just getting the order right), never mind trying to tell them to wait till I get to the window to make my iced coffee in my own cup! LOL. Too frustrating. I just end up bringing most of them home anyway and putting them in my own recycle bin.
As for the cold/hot issue, or just handleability (that's not a word, I know) in general....I get the little cloth insulated "jacket" that DDs sells. I love that thing...it keeps the iced coffee cold for a long time and keeps condensation from getting on things.
And another thing...I hate when they are about to do something wasteful like putting a 2nd cup on, or when they give you a bag for one stupid munchkin that you're going to eat right there, and you say "That's ok, I don't need that bag" (or cup, or whatever), thinking that you are doing the right thing and preventing waste. And so they just throw it away. Drives me INSANE. Don't they get it? Or like the kids at Wendy's, when you say "Could I have ONE ketchup please" and they just hand you a fistful. Or enough salt for my fries to last me 6 months!! LOL
Some McDonalds are very
Some McDonalds are very stringent with the sauces and ketchup. You ask for a handful of ketchup and get 2 packets. For nuggets they have a 1 per every 6 rule and stick to it with 25 cent premiums for extra packets.
As for the little jackets for the cups maybe they should have a card and once you get five iced coffees you get a jacket for free.
The worst about the ketchup exchange:
is when you ask for some and the employee raises his eyebrows & says "ketchup?"
Ketchup is one of only a few things for which I might reasonably ask you, so why does it catch you off-guard?!
What are you going to use
What are you going to use ketchup for? What the food I just made for you doesn't taste good enough without it?
People in Greater Dedham ...
Know to go to Five Guys, where you can take all the ketchup you want (and peanuts, too).
I've been looking for those
Very hard to find a jacket for the DD cups - larger sizes mean floppy arms and back, smaller mean you can't button ...
Oh, nevermind.
*snort*
:o)
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