Goodbye, Dunkin' Foam Cups, We Knew Ye For Too Long

In the face of climate change and government environmental deregulation, a lot of major companies have announced lofty, eco-friendly promises lately. McDonald's wants to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 36% in the next decade. Delta Airlines aims to be carbon-neutral by 2030, and Amazon, by 2040. Microsoft wants to be carbon-negative in 10 years, and have all its assets powered by renewable energy in just five. Who knows whether those companies will hit their target dates, but at least we have one climate-conscious pledge ticked off the list: Dunkin' has officially, fully phased out its polystyrene cups across the globe and has replaced them with "double-walled paper cups."

The Boston-based beanery promised to get rid of styrofoam back in 2018, with the target date of spring 2020. And it did so! According to Dunkin', this change will remove one billion (with a B) foam cups from the waste stream each year. But wait, there's more! Dunkin' says that by the end of summer 2020, all its hot coffee cup lids will be fully recyclable, as will all Dunkin' Keurig coffee pods by the end of the calendar year. Given the company's ability to hit its no-more-styrofoam target date, we hope these other 2020 dates are achievable, too.

Now Dunkin' just needs to make good on its promise to sell better coffee, which it's hoping to do with a $60 million investment in new brewing equipment and a new espresso program. In any case, congratulations to Dunkin', and to anyone else who has ever hit a deadline during the COVID-19 pandemic.