As a frequent Starbucks visitor I was happy to see that they are now offering a new, reusable cup as of January 3rd. It costs $1 (not bad at all!), will fit my grande soy latte (or dirty Chai on a super sleepy, indulgent day), and will shed ten cents off my purchase every time I use it. Now, I don’t actually have one yet because they sold out (within ten minutes) at my local store, but I do plan on purchasing one!

This isn’t the first attempt at energy conservation for the coffee chain. Starbucks switched out their lighting to LEDs back in 2009; installed Energy Management Systems (EMS) in about 700 company-operated stores across the U.S.; supports renewable power generation with a goal of purchasing Renewable Energy Credits to equal 100 percent of their energy consumption by 2015; and continues to search for other ways to cut energy use to reduce the chain’s environmental impact as well as reduce operating costs.

Coffee break, anyone?