It was going to happen sooner or later.....so in my local German state of Hessen....it's sooner.
When you now go into a coffee shop and order a coffee-to-go.....offering them your own personal cup....they will now fill it up and sell the coffee for 10-cents less.
It's a program that the Hessen Environmental Ministry worked up called "Mug Bonus". The catch put into the rules? The coffee shop guy has to ensure that the cup never comes into contract with the dispense nozzle.
So you look at this with some logic and common sense. Yes, there are literally billions of the cups used each year and it could be seen as a waste. But how many people will want to drag a cup around in their jacket or pocket? Out of a 1,000.....I'd take a guess that fifty people might be willing to do this. But in my humble opinion, these are Germans who are not so much hyped up on the environment.....but hyped up on saving 10-cents a day on their coffee. Figure 50-cents a week.....two Euro a month, and you save 24-Euro a year. And yes, there are Germans who count every single expense and would do this strictly for the 24-Euro a year.
The issue I see is in the midst of flu season....some stranger would hand his potentially infected cup that he'd been handling to the coffee house clerk, who would fumble around with this, and hand it back....getting bacteria on his hand and then possible handle the next guy's cup. You could pass the flu from one guy to six guys in a matter of five minutes.
It's one of those ideas that I probably wouldn't get too excited about.
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