Starbucks is working to make a 100% recyclable cup. They've been working at this goal for several years now, and suffice it to say, it's not an easy challenge. Part of the problem is that, despite any innovation in the cup's materials, their needs to be recycling programs in place, people have to have access to them, and they have to be mindful enough to actually recycle their cups.

We're creatures of habit. And I'm definitely one of the guilty ones...almost every day, I get a cup of coffee from someplace, in a single-use cup that invariably ends up in the trash. The public trash cans and sidewalks close to coffee shops are rife with littered coffee cups. Even if we suddenly had a cup bestowed upon us that was recyclable, it's a safe bet that most of them would still get thrown away.

Here's the current deal, as I understand it: bring in your own travel mug, and Starbucks will fill it with coffee and give you a 10 cent discount on your drink.

There's a couple of problems here. First, that deal is written in such small print in Starbucks's stores that most people are not aware of it. Second, I'm not convinced that 10 cents is really enough to motivate people to start carrying around their own cups. It's a matter of convenience.

Besides upping the amount, the incentive itself is backwards; instead of offering a discount, there should be a cup tax. If they flipped the price structure, so that coffee drinks were listed cheaper on the menu, but it rings up with an extra charge at the register, people couldn't help but ask: "What's that extra charge for?"

"That's the paper cup tax."

This, I think, would get people to pay attention to the cups they're discarding.