blue bottle

An experiment in December 2019 saw US cafe chain Blue Bottle do away with single-use cups altogether at one of its stores in the San Francisco Bay Area. The move saw the cafe ask customers to bring their own cup or pay a deposit on a reusable loaner cup, and followed the company's realization that its 100% compostable cups were ending up in landfills. Customers who choose the loaner cup pay a USD 3 deposit, which is repaid when the cup is returned. This pilot scheme also introduced the sale of grab-and-go items in reusable containers, and whole-bean coffee in bulk instead of single-use bags.

Don’t tell Greta, but it doesn’t have to be the end of the world when you forget your reusable cup, here’s why:

GREEN PRESSURE. In 2020, the search for a more sustainable consumerism finally collides with one of the most powerful drivers of behavior change there is: social pressure. Just like the plastic straw before it, drinking from a disposable coffee cup is becoming shameful (yes, really). And as a business, Blue Bottle isn’t waiting for innovations like the lid-less Unocup to become a reality. While society as a whole needs to move towards truly sustainable products and processes, major shifts will take time. Blue Bottle is taking action now to offer reusability not as an option, but as the default. In 2020, as ‘What do you mean you don’t have a reusable coffee cup?’ is set to become a common retort in cafes around the world, what will you do to firmly nudge your customers towards the green choice?

FORGIVING BY DESIGN. Everyone has forgotten their reusable bag or water bottle at some point. It’s frustrating and even a little embarrassing. Not exactly the emotions that CX designers aim for. To teach consumers a lesson about sustainability, in those instances you can shame them, or you can try to help them. Blue Bottle’s initiative doesn’t force customers to shamefully use a single-use cup, nor does it force them to buy yet another reusable cup (for $16!) that will join the stockpile at your home. Instead, the loaner system sets people in the right direction, while also catching them when they fall. One thing you can count on heading into the next decade? Humans will continue to make mistakes. Can you create a service that supports consumers’ changing needs, especially when they mess up?